Informational Report on Lighting

The overall goal of the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Visibility Research Program is to enhance the safety of road users through near-term improvements of visibility on and along roadways. The program also promotes the cost-effective advancement of new practices and technologies to improve visibility. The following document summarizes the results of a series of studies that evaluated the visibility of pedestrians at nonintersection (midblock) crosswalks and provides information on lighting designs that will enhance the ability of drivers to detect those pedestrians. The research documented in FHWA-HRT-08-052 (NTIS publication number PB2008-106431), consisting of both static and dynamic experiments of driver performance, found that a vertical illuminance level in the crosswalk of 20 lx, measured at a height of 1.5 m (5 ft) from the road surface, provided adequate detection distances for most midblock crosswalks. This report will be of interest to traffic engineers, lighting designers, and city, State, and local authorities with responsibility for public safety