Quantitative assessment of driver visibility of a cyclist though computer model

Abstract

Quantitative assessment of truck driver visibility of the on-road cyclist is very complex in nature. In this present study, a sophisticated computer model is developed based on perspective projection of the cyclist on the image plane along with driver's Field-of-View (FOV) region. The visual acuity angle is calculated on these cyclist images. The result shows that the presence of cyclists in the FOV region does not ensure the driver's visibility of cyclists as FOV depends on the angles of incident-ray originated from the eyepoint on convex mirror curved surface independent of cyclist image on the mirror plane. Visual acuity angle results shows difficulty level of driver's visibility. Recommended ground plane visibility region is insufficient to ensure the driver visibility of actual road users. This result also highlights different on-road safety hazards related to driver visibility. A solution is proposed on the placement of passenger side rare-view mirror for better visibility.