ABSTRACT
How do conspicuous vehicles attract the attention of other road users, and do they capture the attention of other road users more readily than less conspicuous vehicles? Two studies address these questions by having drivers and riders assess whether the traffic in a roadway scene would allow or discourage them from making one of two manoeuvres. In the first study they decided whether it would be safe to enter a major road from a side road at a T-junction, and in the second study they decided whether it would be safe to move into the outer lane of a twolane highway in order to overtake a slower vehicle or in preparation for making a turn at a junction. In both studies there were vehicles sometimes present, and these could be conspicuous or not. For several decades, safety campaigners have pointed to greater conspicuity being associated with reduced crash risk for vehicles, with epidemiological and quasi-experimental studies providing a consistent conclusion (for example, Olson et al., 1979, 1981; Thomson, 1980; Zador, 1985; Elvik, 1993; Yuan, 2000).
