An illusory size–speed bias and railway crossing collisions

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dc.contributor.authorIsler, Robert B.
dc.contributor.authorPerrone, John A.
dc.contributor.authorClark, Helen Elizabeth
dc.coverage.spatialEnglanden_NZ
dc.date.accessioned2013-04-16T21:04:08Z
dc.date.available2013-04-16T21:04:08Z
dc.date.copyright2013-06
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractCollisions between motor vehicles and trains at railway level crossings have been a high-profile issue for many years in New Zealand and other countries. Errors made in judging a train's speed could possibly be attributed to motorists being unknowingly subjected to a size-speed illusion and this could put them at considerable risk. Leibowitz (1985) maintained that a large object seems to be moving slower than a small object travelling at the same speed. Support has been provided for Leibowitz's theory from studies using simple shapes on a screen. However, the reasons behind the size-speed illusion remain unknown and there is no experimental evidence that it applies to an approaching train situation. To investigate these issues, we tested observers' relative speed estimation performance for a train and a car approaching at a range of speeds and distances, in a simulated environment. The data show that participants significantly underestimated the speed of the train, compared to the car. A size-speed illusion seems to be operating in the case of the approaching train in our simulation and may therefore be a risk factor in some railway level crossing collisions.en_NZ
dc.identifier.citationClark, H. E., Perrone, J. A., & Isler, R. B. (2013). An illusory size–speed bias and railway crossing collisions. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 55, 226-231.en_NZ
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.aap.2013.02.037en_NZ
dc.identifier.issn0001-4575
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10289/7465
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevieren_NZ
dc.relation.isPartOfAccident Analysis and Preventionen_NZ
dc.relation.ispartofAccident Analysis & Prevention
dc.titleAn illusory size–speed bias and railway crossing collisionsen_NZ
dc.typeJournal Articleen_NZ
pubs.begin-page226en_NZ
pubs.elements-id38359
pubs.end-page231en_NZ
pubs.volume55en_NZ
uow.identifier.article-noCen_NZ
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