Safety Improvement of Children’s Night Crossing Based on Drivers’ Visual Illusion

Drivers are likely to overestimate the distance to children crossing streets because the drivers mistake children for adults, especially under poor light and in a monotonous visual frame of reference. We conducted a quantitative study on the correlation of distance, pedestrian height, and motor vehicle speed for studying driver distance identification rules on children crossing streets at night. We calculated the overestimated distance between vehicle and pedestrian and used that analysis to calculate speed limits of the road section. The results indicate that when the height of children is 115 cm (five percentile height of school age children) and the driver speed is less than 35 km/h, the overestimated distance is less than 11 m. Ultimately, we suggest setting a 25 km/h night speed limit, providing reflective clothing, and improving crossing facilities in school areas.