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This volume, an executive summary of the Enhanced Night Visibility project, is the first of 18 volumes that report on the project's evaluation of the merit of implementing supplemental ultraviolet headlamps, supplemental infrared systems, and other vision enhancement systems (VESs) to enhance drivers' nighttime roadway safety. The entire project evaluated 18 VESs in terms of their ability to provide object detection and recognition. Objects included scenarios with pedestrians standing or walking in different locations on the roadway. Pedestrians were dressed in black, white, or blue clothing to produce varying levels of contrast with their surroundings. Detection and recognition testing took place in clear weather, rain, snow, and fog conditions. Project research also evaluated a subset of the VESs for their effect on drivers' disability and discomfort glare. The VESs were also tested for their value in facilitating drivers' detection of pavement markings and other traffic control devices. The results indicated that supplemental ultraviolet headlamps do not provide sufficient benefit to justify further testing; however, supplemental infrared vision enhancement systems do offer an improvement over headlamps alone for detection of pedestrians. Near infrared systems have the potential to provide an added benefit in detecting pedestrians in inclement weather, but the implementation of NIR technology is the key to achieving this benefit. United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety R&D

Phase III-- Study 1 was performed to further explore findings on far infrared (FIR) systems from Phase II, to investigate near infrared (NIR) and high intensity discharge (HID) technologies, and to investigate detection and recognition of retroreflective infrastructure components. The empirical testing for this study was performed at the Virginia Smart Road testing facility during clear weather conditions. A total of 18 participants were involved in the study. A 6 by 3 by 17 mixed-factorial design was used to investigate the effects of 6 different types of vision enhancement systems, 3 age groups, and 17 object presentations on detection and recognition distances; subjective evaluations were obtained for the different systems as well. The results of the empirical testing suggest that infrared (IR) systems, when designed correctly, can provide pedestrian detection benefit in clear weather, particularly for pedestrians in dark clothing and veiled in the glare of oncoming headlamps. A wider field of view display appears to facilitate detection in curves of 1,250-m radius. Retroreflective objects may be detected earlier in an NIR display, but require direct visual observation to recognize the object or read signage. HID systems did not provide detection benefit over the baseline halogen headlamps tested. United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety R&D