Hi Steve:
In my e-mail, I was more trying to give a "user" perspective than a
"technical" perspective; the question of motorcycle visibility is one that
keeps coming back, even in Canada where the motorcycling season is
relatively short (one has to be a real motorcycle fanatic to go riding on a
morning like today... +10 deg C, raining, with 25 km/h wind gusting to 35
km/h).
Road Safety did study the effectiveness of DRL in the early 90's; the crash
experience of 1990 vehicles (which had to have DRL) was compared to that of
1989 vehicles (which, mostly, didn't have it). The report is listed on the
http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/DRLs/studies.htm site which one of the previous
e-mails referred to; I do not believe the study is available in electronic
format, however.
I will investigate with our Communications people whether we have the
technology to convert a paper report into a PDF file and, if so, will
request that it be put «somewhere» on our Web site. In such a case, I will
report the link to the group.
The reference for the study (available also in French) is:
Arora H., Collard D., Robbins G.; "Effectiveness of daytime running lights
in Canada"; Transport Canada Publication TP 12298(E), 1994
A short summary of the report is provided on the ibiblio.org site as:
«In a study in Canada comparing 1990 model year vehicles (required to have
DRLs) with 1989 vehicles, a statistically significant 11-percent reduction
in daytime multiple-vehicle crashes other than rear-end impacts was
estimated. This estimate was adjusted to take into account the fact that
about 29 percent of 1989 vehicles were fitted with DRLs. Collisions
involving pedestrians, pedalcyclists, motorcyclists, and heavy trucks and
buses were not included in this study. »
If I recall correctly (I was not involved with the study), the idea was to
use data for two years in a row to eliminate most (if not all) other factors
that might otherwhise influence the data... such as improvements in vehicle
crashworthiness, the general state of the economy, etc...
As to reducing the number of crashes... this could be the subject of a
separate (and probably as prolific) thread. :)
Denis Boucher,
Senior Engineer, Crash Avoidance Research
Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation Directorate
Transport Canada
330 Sparks Steet, 8th Floor, Tower C
Ottawa, ON
Canada
K1A 0N5
Tel : (613) 998-1953
Fax : (613) 990-2913
E-Mail : [log in to unmask]
Internet : http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 5:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Daytime running lights
In a message dated 9/10/02 7:31:57 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
One more note, if I may, from Canada where Daytime Running Lights have been
a fact of life for over a decade
Hi Dennis:
Since Canada has had 10 years of experience, can you share with us the
impact DRL's have had on the accident/fatality rates?
The entire discussion is predicated on the concept that DRL's improve
safety, so your input (with statistics) would be very helpful. I think
Canada has always had severe penalties for drunk driving, but if your data
shows a reduction in accidents/fatalities, are there similar factors (other
than DRL's) that could have impacted the statistics? How about increased
driver education efforts?
Thank you in advance.
Best Regards,
Steve Mueller
Denver, Colorado, USA
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