News Release

Enhancing Night Visibility Using UV Technology To Be Tested On Virginia Tech's Smart Road

Grant and Award Announcement

Virginia Tech

Problem: It was a dark and stormy night

(FEB. 19, 1998* -- BLACKSBURG, VA) Have you ever driven in a pouring rain or thick fog, uncertain where the edge of your lane or the road is? Have you ever barely missed a pedestrian on a dark night because you could not see them? Researchers in Virginia Tech's Center for Transportation Research and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Research Council are working with several industries and agencies to solve the problem of night visibility for driving and pedestrian safety.

The center and VDOT have been awarded a $2.6 million project from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for enhanced night visibility research, Tom Dingus, center director, announced. Dingus is co-director of the project with Gary Allen, director of the Virginia Transportation Research Council.

Allen reports, "Research in Sweden has shown that the use of florescent pavement markings and ultraviolet headlights, in conjunction with low beam headlights, can double a driver's visibility distance during wet night road conditions."

Preliminary tests have shown that ultraviolet headlights, similar to "black lights" popular in the 60's and 70's, allow drivers to see up to 30 percent farther at night and increase the visibility of pedestrians. The research will seek to improve the safety of night driving by enhancing the visibility of road markings, signs, and pedestrians, says Dingus.

We've all seen ultraviolet (UV) technology in novelty items. "Black light" -- which is light in ranges the eye cannot see -- reflecting off florescent materials is what makes a fish tank glow in a dimly lit restaurant. Phosphates in detergents and even toothpaste are responsible for clothing and smiles that glow in dark discos. But you probably never suspected that the technology present in those wild posters in your room -- or your children's rooms -- could lead to safer driving.

Prototype headlights will contain both standard bulbs and the black lights. The special road markings will floresce -- reflecting a greater amount of light that painted surfaces. And it is believed that pedestrians will be easier to see because of the "disco-effect," the phosphates left in clothing from detergent, says Dingus.

Researchers will test the prototype UV headlights and fluorescent-reactive pavement markings and lane delineators under conditions of variable lighting and weather. The Virginia Tech transportation center's "Smart Road" will serve as the controlled test site for the research. Then, up to 100 miles of additional Virginia roads will also be used in the testing.

The headlights are being provided by Ford Motor Company, and fluorescent -reactive paints and pavement markings are being provided by 3M Company, Day-Glo Color Corporation, and Carsonite International.

"This is the first example of how the smart road will bring research to Virginia Tech and the Center for Transportation Research," says Ray Pethtel, associate director of the center and university transportation fellow. "The award came to the Virginia because of the real-life laboratory the smart road offers, in addition to the expertise that exists at Virginia Tech and VDOT."

Virginia's Transportation Commissioner David R. Gehr says, "This project is one more step in VDOT's progress toward building "smart" highways, an overall plan to use the best technologies to make our transportation system increasingly safe and efficient for motorists."

The Smart Road, recently begun between Blacksburg and I-81 in Montgomery County, is a planned 5.7-mile limited access highway with the first two miles designated for controlled testing and evaluation. This laboratory section will have variable lighting and the capability to create snow and rain. The first mile of road will be available to researchers this summer.

Once the UV technologies have been tested on the Smart Road, the headlights and pavement markings will be tested in other Montgomery County locations, on Afton Mountain near Charlottesville, and on a section of highway in the high-traffic Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C. area. Volunteers' cars will be retrofitted with the prototype headlights. Use of the technology in real traffic conditions will help the researchers evaluate the safety benefits of the system.

The research team will address questions related to manufacturing, environmental health, and economic impact, as well as highway safety. Researchers will look at whether the materials are stable and environmentally sound, how long they will last, and where and under what conditions are fluorescent materials most useful.

"For example, most highway markers have UV protection coating to keep them from fading," Dingus points out. However, it will probably be possible to filter out harmful UV from the B spectrum to protect markings and still admit useful UV light from the A spectrum to reflect from markings. "Wavelengths in the A spectrum at those levels have largely proven to be safe," says Dingus.

If a UV system proves beneficial, researchers in the Virginia Tech center will help develop policies and procedures to deploy safer equipment and road markings, according to Aaron Schroeder, senior research associate with the center who will facilitate the deployment phase. "We will work with automakers, public safety interest groups, state departments of transportation, and federal agencies to come up with programs to deploy the technology in cars and on roadways," Schroeder says.

The research is expected to take 42 months. In addition to the Virginia Tech Center for Transportation Research and the Virginia Transportation Research Council, research partners include University of Iowa researchers Carole Simmons, a lighting/visibility expert, and Daniel McGehee, director of the human factors research program, both familiar with related FHWA research; David Sliney, a private consultant who has done research dealing with UV headlight systems and their effects on human health, and Andrew Farkas, a transportation economist, planner, and educator with the Morgan State University Center for Transportation Studies.

The aim of the research project team is to be a focal point for the nation's UV/fluorescent program, says Dingus.

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For more information, contact:
Tom Dingus, Center for Transportation Research director, 540/231-8831
Tracey Schroeder, project manager, 540/231-3285

*Note to media about the date of this release: The FHWA award was announced in Blacksburg, Va., by U.S. Representative Rick Boucher on Feb. 13, 1998.

PR Contacts:
Susan Trulove, Virginia Tech, 540/231-5646
Lynda Webster, VDOT, 804/786-2715



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