Sun Glare Impacts on Freeway Congestion: Geometric Model and Empirical Analysis

Churchill, Andrew; Tripodis, Yorghos; Lovell, David J.

doi:10.1061/(asce)te.1943-5436.0000418

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Sun glare occurs when the sun is low in the horizon, usually an hour after dawn or before dusk. The direct sunlight exposure at a critical angle (normally less than 20° between the line of sight and the sunlight source) could result in a temporary dazzling sensation for drivers, which might impair their vision ( 1 ). This impairment could result in negative impacts on the safety of all road users.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sun Glare: Network Characterization and Safety Effects

Sun

El-Basyouny

Kwon

2018

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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This research conducted a two-stage assessment to investigate sun glare effects on road safety in Edmonton. The first stage developed a methodology to model sun glare occurrence, aiming to identify when and where drivers are most likely to be exposed to sun glare. Safety risks at those identified locations during sun glare periods were assessed in the second stage. By contrasting the collisions during glare and non-glare conditions, this second stage aimed to quantify the effects of sun glare on road collisions. Consequently, three major findings were concluded. First, sun glare was found to significantly contribute to collision occurrence, especially at road intersections. Second, the effects of sun glare on collision occurrence during mornings on the eastbound and evenings on the westbound were observed to be particularly worse in the spring and fall months. In fact, safety in the southbound direction was significantly affected by sun glare during most daytime hours in the main winter months (November, December, and January). Lastly, the analysis revealed that certain collision types were more likely to occur during periods of sun glare. For example, collisions due to signal violations and failing to yield to pedestrians/cyclist were more likely to occur at intersections. At mid-block locations, the proportion of collisions occurring due to improper turning and lane changes were observed to be significantly higher. Overall, the approach proposed in this research provides a holistic method to quantify the effects of sun glare on road collisions and offers additional insights into the extent by which sun glare affects road safety.

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confidence: 99%

Sun Glare: Network Characterization and Safety Effects

Sun

El-Basyouny

Kwon

2018

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation R

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“…The adverse effect of sun glare on crash occurrence has been well-documented in relevant literature 3 14. However, Mitra3 discovered that motorist injury severity was not increased in glare conditions, possibly as a consequence of reduced travel speed 8. Such a protective effect of sun glare against associated motorist injury severity does not apply to pedestrians; our study concludes that glare conditions (as indicated in the overall model) are associated with pedestrian fatalities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 44%

“…Churchill et al 8 employed a geometric model to examine whether sun glare affects the speeds of drivers on roadways and concluded that changes in speed as a result of sun glare affected highway congestion. Jurado-Piña and Pardillo Mayora,9 in an investigation of the maximum tolerable sun glare determined that glare occurs when at specific angular distances between a driver’s line of sight and the sun; these angular distances are 19° for a 40-year-old driver and 25° for a 60-year-old driver.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population-based case–control study of the effect of sun glare on pedestrian fatalities in Taiwan

Chen

et al. 2019

BMJ Open

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ObjectivesSun glare is a serious driving hazard and increases crash risks. Relatively few studies have examined the effects of sun glare on pedestrian fatalities, given that a crash has occurred. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of sun glare on pedestrian fatalities.DesignA population-based case–control study.SettingTaiwan.ParticipantsUsing the Taiwan National Traffic Crash Data and sunrise and sunset data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the period 2003 to 2016, 100 411 pedestrians involved in crashes were identified. Of these crashes, 13 355 and 87 056 were glare-related (case) and non-glare-related (control) crashes, respectively.MethodsTo account for unobserved heterogeneity, mixed logit models were estimated to identify the determinants of pedestrian fatalities.Main outcome measuresPedestrian fatalities.ResultsPedestrians involved in glare-related crashes were more likely to be fatally injured than those in non-glare-related crashes (β=0.527; t=3.21). Other contributory factors to fatal injuries among pedestrians were older pedestrians (β=0.553; t=2.33), male drivers (β=0.324; t=2.33), older drivers (β=0.218; t=2.14), intoxicated motorists (β=0.606; t=2.85), rural roadways (β=0.985; t=3.92), overtaking manoeuvres (β=0.472; t=3.58), heavy vehicle crash partners (β=0.248; t=2.78) and sunset hours (β=0.274; t=3.08). Walking against traffic appeared beneficial for decreasing injury severity (β=−0.304; t=−2.76).ConclusionsSun glare is associated with pedestrian fatalities. Older pedestrians, male drivers, older drivers and intoxicated motorists are prevalent determinants of pedestrian fatalities in glare-related crashes.

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“…Results show that sun glare increases traffic accidents in cases of oncoming bicycles and pedestrians encountering turning vehicles significantly. Sun glare would also slow down traffic flows (Andrew et al, 2012;Auffray et al, 2008). Auffray et al (2008) found that the presence of sun glare would affect the traffic flow during both congested and uncongested periods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Auffray et al (2008) found that the presence of sun glare would affect the traffic flow during both congested and uncongested periods. Andrew et al (2012) studied the connection between the sun glare and the freeway congestion, and result shows that the presence of sun glare would slow traffics and cause traffic congestions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%