1A) Study of Driver Testing Unit

Introduction
A transportation system comprises of various elements like road user, way, environment and vehicle. The
characteristics of these elements affect the transportation system significantly. In this experiment we mainly
look into the road user characteristics. A road user can be a passenger or driver.

Objective
This study is to test the driver characteristics, mainly

1. Distance judgement
2. Range of vision

Distance Judgement
This test is to analyse the ability of the driver to perceive the relative distance between two objects at a
distance.

Procedure and Equipment

The testing unit consists of a wooden case in side which two vertical sliding bars are placed .One bar is fixed
and the other bar can be moved parallel to first bar to and fro by a long thread. A scale is also mounted
nearby to measure the error in centimetres.
The examinee would be in a position 6m away from equipment from where he is supposed to align both the
bars in the wooden box parallel by pulling the strings attached to the bars .The box is lighted up by bulb to
ensure proper visibility.The procedure is repeated three times and the combined error should not exceed
7.5cm.

Field Of Vision
This test is to analyse the ability of driver to sense movement at his side without rotating his head. This is
done as the driver is not expected to turn his head while driving.

Procedure & Equipment

Equipment consists of a wooden nose notch on a semi-circular frame .Two movable pins are placed on the
either end of the wooden platform.
The examinee is made to place his nose in the notch and focus onto the screen ahead of him. A wooden pin
would be made to move from right end of the wooden platformtowards the centre of the screen. The
examinee is asked to signal when he recognises the movement on his side. The procedure is repeated for the
left eye also. Now both left and right eyes are tested at random. The angle subtended by the centre point of
the screen and point where the movement was recognised on the notch is calculated. The angle should be a
minimum of 75˚.
 1B) Study of Driver Vision Screen Tester
Objective
To analyse the following road user characteristics:

 Depth perception
 Field of vision
 Visual acuity
 Colour perception

Depth perception
Depth perception is the visual ability to perceive the world in three dimensions (3D) and the distance of an
object as well as the relative distances between objects.

Field of vision
The field of vision is the extent of the observable world that is seen at any given moment.

Visual acuity
Visual acuity is acuteness or clearness of vision, which is dependent on the sharpness of the retinal focus
within the eye and the sensitivity of the interpretative portion of the brain. Normal visual acuity is
commonly referred to as 20/20 vision, the metric equivalent of which is 6/6 vision. At 20 feet or 6 metres, a
human eye with nominal performance is able to separate lines that are one arc minute apart (equivalent to
lines that are spaced 1.75 mm apart). A vision of 20/40 is considered half as good as nominal performance.
A vision of 20/10 is considered twice as good as nominal performance

Colour perception
Colour perception is the ability of an organism or machine to distinguish objects based on the wavelengths
(or frequencies) of the light they reflect, emit, or transmit. This is an important characteristic for drivers to
understand the traffic signals and markings.

Procedure & Equipment

The test requires an electric examinee vision screen tester. The examinee is made to read the screen by
pressing his forehead against the button provided above the eye piece. The examiner is given the control
board which controls the display on the screen. The examiner notes down the examinees observation on the
record form and analyses the error in observation. Along with the overall vision, the test also analyses the
vision characteristics separately for each eye.
Formulating conclusions and recommendations
1. What are the results obtained in various vision tests in your case and your observations on them?
2. How do these characteristics affect the driving behaviour?
3. What improvements are required?