Effects of an Educational Intervention on Athletes’ Attitudes Toward Wearing Conspicuity-Enhancing Garments at Night

Abstract

Most vehicle-into-pedestrian fatalities occur at night, and insufficient conspicuity of pedestrians’ clothing is a key causal factor. Marking pedestrians with retroreflective material can dramatically enhance their nighttime conspicuity, particularly when it is configured to present biological motion information to drivers. Although those who exercise outdoors at night are at particular risk and are therefore a key target audience for conspicuity-enhancing clothing, their willingness to obtain and use conspicuity aids has not been explored systematically. There is, however, evidence to suggest that pedestrians fail to appreciate visibility problems at night (e.g., typical pedestrians overestimate their own visibility and underestimate the benefits of wearing conspicuity-enhancing clothing.) The purpose of the current project was to measure the impact of an educational intervention on relevant attitudes of a sample of frequent outdoor exercisers. Results suggest that prior to the educational intervention the participants appreciated neither the magnitude of the nighttime conspicuity problem nor the benefits of biological motion configurations. We also found that a carefully designed lecture can result in a significantly improved understanding of nighttime conspicuity issues and a greater interest in (and willingness to purchase) conspicuity-enhancing athletic garments. The findings from this study are expected to be useful for encouraging pedestrians to take steps to enhance their own conspicuity at night.