THE LOCATIONS OF HEADLAMPS AND DRIVER EYE POSITIONS IN VEHICLES SOLD IN THE USA

Information about the locations of headlamps and driver eve positions is important in estimating the performance of a variety of traffic-saf ety equipment, such as retroreflective traffic signs and markings, rea rview mirrors, and headlamps. Driver eye height is also an important f actor in determining safe sight distances on vertical curves. However, no comprehensive database concerning the locations of headlamps and d river eye positions exists for the current US fleet. The present study was designed to obtain such information for vehicles currently sold i n the USA. The information was derived from the 15 best-selling cars a nd the 15 best-selling light trucks and vans. These 30 vehicles repres ent 52% of all vehicles sold in the USA in 1995. For headlamp location s, actual vehicle measurements were made. For driver eve positions, di mensional information provided by vehicle manufacturers was used to es timate the location of the driver seating reference point. A computer model that predicts the relationship of the driver eye position to the driver seating reference point was then used to calculate driver eye positions. The obtained information includes sales-weighted mean dimen sions for the locations of headlamps and driver eye positions, calcula ted separately for cars and for light trucks and vans.