{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35887"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/35887","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"An Investigation of the Effectiveness of A Strobe Light As An Imminent Rear Warning Signal","abstract":"Strobe lights have been used successfully in many transportation applications to increase conspicuity. It was hoped that a strobe signal could also be applied to more effectively warn distracted drivers of an unexpected rear end conflict. This \"proof of concept study\" used a 2 x 2 between-subjects design using thirty-three subjects (16 subjects in the strobe condition, 17 subjects in the no strobe condition) who were divided into two age groups: younger (25-35) and older (60-70). The driver unexpectedly encountered a stopped \"surrogate\" vehicle in the roadway (with or without a rear-facing strobe light) in a controlled on-road study at the Smart Road located at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Results suggested that younger subjects' perception times improved as a result of being exposed to the strobe signal. Faster perception of the situation allowed more time to initiate a brake response. Older subjects perception and response times remained unchanged by the strobe signal. More severe initial steering rate and subjective responses indicated that the strobe conveyed a sense of urgency irrespective of age. Visual distraction of subjects proved difficult. Hence, the impact of the strobe on attracting the attention of a visually distracted driver to the stimulus could not be as fully investigated as originally hoped. The formulation of a more difficult distraction task was suggested for future research to truly assess the ability of the strobe light at alerting visually distracted drivers.","abstract_html":"Strobe lights have been used successfully in many transportation applications to increase conspicuity. It was hoped that a strobe signal could also be applied to more effectively warn distracted drivers of an unexpected rear end conflict. This "proof of concept study" used a 2 x 2 between-subjects design using thirty-three subjects (16 subjects in the strobe condition, 17 subjects in the no strobe condition) who were divided into two age groups: younger (25-35) and older (60-70). The driver unexpectedly encountered a stopped "surrogate" vehicle in the roadway (with or without a rear-facing strobe light) in a controlled on-road study at the Smart Road located at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Results suggested that younger subjects' perception times improved as a result of being exposed to the strobe signal. Faster perception of the situation allowed more time to initiate a brake response. Older subjects perception and response times remained unchanged by the strobe signal. More severe initial steering rate and subjective responses indicated that the strobe conveyed a sense of urgency irrespective of age. Visual distraction of subjects proved difficult. Hence, the impact of the strobe on attracting the attention of a visually distracted driver to the stimulus could not be as fully investigated as originally hoped. The formulation of a more difficult distraction task was suggested for future research to truly assess the ability of the strobe light at alerting visually distracted drivers.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Schreiner, Lisa Marie"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Industrial and Systems Engineering","degree_department":"Industrial and Systems Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Dingus, Thomas A."],"committee_members":["Lee, Suzanne E.","Kleiner, Brian M."],"year":2000,"date_issued":"2000-11-15","date_published":"2000-11-15","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:38Z","subjects":["Vehicles","Rear signaling","Reaction times","Strobe signal","Safety","Strobe lights","Rear end collisions","Collision avoidance"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12012000-084911"],"render_values":[{"text":"etd-12012000-084911","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35887","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Dingus, Thomas A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Lee, Suzanne E.","Kleiner, Brian M."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Industrial and Systems Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Schreiner, Lisa Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-03-14T20:48:39Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-03-14T20:48:39Z","2001-12-06"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2000-11-15"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Industrial and Systems Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Vehicles","Rear signaling","Reaction times","Strobe signal","Safety","Strobe lights","Rear end collisions","Collision avoidance"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["etd-12012000-084911"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35887"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Strobe lights have been used successfully in many transportation applications to increase conspicuity. It was hoped that a strobe signal could also be applied to more effectively warn distracted drivers of an unexpected rear end conflict. This \"proof of concept study\" used a 2 x 2 between-subjects design using thirty-three subjects (16 subjects in the strobe condition, 17 subjects in the no strobe condition) who were divided into two age groups: younger (25-35) and older (60-70). The driver unexpectedly encountered a stopped \"surrogate\" vehicle in the roadway (with or without a rear-facing strobe light) in a controlled on-road study at the Smart Road located at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Results suggested that younger subjects' perception times improved as a result of being exposed to the strobe signal. Faster perception of the situation allowed more time to initiate a brake response. Older subjects perception and response times remained unchanged by the strobe signal. More severe initial steering rate and subjective responses indicated that the strobe conveyed a sense of urgency irrespective of age. Visual distraction of subjects proved difficult. Hence, the impact of the strobe on attracting the attention of a visually distracted driver to the stimulus could not be as fully investigated as originally hoped. The formulation of a more difficult distraction task was suggested for future research to truly assess the ability of the strobe light at alerting visually distracted drivers."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An Investigation of the Effectiveness of A Strobe Light As An Imminent Rear Warning Signal"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Dingus, Thomas A."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Lee, Suzanne E.","Kleiner, Brian M."],"dc:contributor.department":["Industrial and Systems Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Schreiner, Lisa Marie"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-03-14T20:48:39Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-03-14T20:48:39Z","2001-12-06"],"dc:date.issued":["2000-11-15"],"dc:description.abstract":["Strobe lights have been used successfully in many transportation applications to increase conspicuity. It was hoped that a strobe signal could also be applied to more effectively warn distracted drivers of an unexpected rear end conflict. This \"proof of concept study\" used a 2 x 2 between-subjects design using thirty-three subjects (16 subjects in the strobe condition, 17 subjects in the no strobe condition) who were divided into two age groups: younger (25-35) and older (60-70). The driver unexpectedly encountered a stopped \"surrogate\" vehicle in the roadway (with or without a rear-facing strobe light) in a controlled on-road study at the Smart Road located at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI). Results suggested that younger subjects' perception times improved as a result of being exposed to the strobe signal. Faster perception of the situation allowed more time to initiate a brake response. Older subjects perception and response times remained unchanged by the strobe signal. More severe initial steering rate and subjective responses indicated that the strobe conveyed a sense of urgency irrespective of age. Visual distraction of subjects proved difficult. Hence, the impact of the strobe on attracting the attention of a visually distracted driver to the stimulus could not be as fully investigated as originally hoped. The formulation of a more difficult distraction task was suggested for future research to truly assess the ability of the strobe light at alerting visually distracted drivers."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:identifier.other":["etd-12012000-084911"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/35887"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Vehicles","Rear signaling","Reaction times","Strobe signal","Safety","Strobe lights","Rear end collisions","Collision avoidance"],"dc:title":["An Investigation of the Effectiveness of A Strobe Light As An Imminent Rear Warning Signal"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Industrial and Systems Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:38Z"}