Highway Safety Group - Services

Improved Snow Plow Headlight Visibility and Reduced Driver Fatigue


Record Type: DOT


Plowing snow is very difficult, but very necessary. Poor weather reduces visibility. This problem is further exacerbated by the need to mount headlights higher on the equipment so they shine over the plows. This often results in the plow lights being almost at the operators’ eye level, which is the worst condition for reflecting light back into the snowplow driver’s eyes, obscuring their vision even more. This headlight position also reduces visibility for on-coming traffic since the headlights are higher than normal. The additional colored beacon lights that are used on plows as warning devices also reflect off of the snow into the operator’s eyes. Although these lights are mounted behind the driver, they still reflect off the snow and obscure vision. Other problems that exist during plowing operations are the visibility through the windshield due to fogging over and the effectiveness of the wipers themselves. In addition to the reduced vision caused by these problems, increased driver fatigue is experienced. Since plowing snow is such a difficult event, anything that contributes to additional fatigue should be minimized or eliminated. This problem was the focus of a recently completed National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) study that made recommendations for improvements. ADOT’s previous study on Winter Storm Operations also made recommendations to improve plow operations. However, no recommendations to improve lighting configurations have been provided to eliminate the problems described.


Source Organization: Arizona Department of Transportation

Date Added: 12/15/2006

Index Terms: Winter maintenance, Snowplows, Snow and ice control, Snow removal, Visibility distance, Weather conditions, Headlamps, Arizona, Improvements, Drivers, Fatigue (Physiological condition), Research projects,

Sponsor Organization
Federal Highway Administration
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
USA
Phone: (202) 366-4000



Performing Organization
Arizona Department of Transportation
http://www.azdot.gov
206 South 17th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85007
USA


Project Manager
Harris, Jason
Phone: (602) 712-6927
Fax: (602) 712-3400
Email: JHarris@azdot.gov



Principal Investigator
Dornsife, Chad
Best Highway Safety Practices Institute
2879 Champlain Dr.
Portland, Oregon 97205-5833
USA
Phone: 858.673.1926
Email: cdornsife@bhspi.org