PeriLight – flashing light to direct the attention of drivers at level crossings
PeriLight – flashing light to direct the attention of drivers at level crossings
Perilight draws the attention of drivers and makes them look left and right.
Credit:
DLR
With PeriLight, the DLR has developed a system that aims to increase drivers' awareness at non-technically secured level crossings and thus reduce the risk of accidents. This is because accidents at level crossings usually have serious consequences. Around one in four accidents ends fatally. The risk of accidents is particularly high at ungated level crossings. Around 95 per cent of all accidents at level crossings are caused by road user error. Ignorance, inattention and carelessness are the main reasons for collisions. DLR research has shown that the majority of road users do not look out for an approaching train at non-technically secured level crossings. With PeriLight - a system for guiding the driver's gaze - the DLR has developed a technical supplement to the existing passive safety system at ungated level crossings. The aim of PeriLight is to encourage drivers to look left and right so that they can recognise an approaching train in good time and brake.
Accidents at level crossings usually have serious consequences. Around one in four accidents ends fatally. The risk of accidents is particularly high at level crossings without barriers. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has therefore developed a system designed to increase driver awareness at these so-called non-technically secured level crossings and minimise the risk of accidents: PeriLight.
Flashing light for more safety at level crossings
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Flashing light for more safety at level crossings
Accidents at level crossings usually have serious consequences. Around one in four accidents ends fatally. The risk of accidents is particularly high at level crossings without barriers. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has therefore developed a system designed to increase driver awareness at these so-called non-technically secured level crossings and minimise the risk of accidents: PeriLight.
The central elements of PeriLight are two LED flashing light sources that are positioned next to the tracks, about 50 metres to the left and right of the level crossing. If the driver passes a sensor located 80 metres in front of the level crossing, PeriLight is triggered automatically. The lights pulse ten times alternately left and right with white and pink -- and thus attract the road user's attention in their direction. PeriLight utilises automatic processes of human visual information processing. The pulsating light in the peripheral field of vision triggers an automatic reorientation of the road user's visual attention in the direction of the light source. The correct behaviour at the level crossing, looking left and right, is thus instinctively triggered. At InnoTrans 2016, PeriLight can be tried out for yourself in the role of a car driver in a driving simulator.
Retrofitting conventional safety systems at level crossings is generally very expensive, partly due to the integration of these systems into the railway's control and safety technology. PeriLight, on the other hand, works completely independently of any railway infrastructure, as it is not triggered by the train but by the road user. The non-technically secured level crossing is by definition "secured" by its signage and by keeping the sight triangle clear. Due to its independence from the control and safety technology, PeriLight is an additional system that could supplement the existing technical safety systems at critical ungated level crossings at a very low cost.
Contact
Dr.-Ing. Christian Meirich
Head of Department
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Institute of Transportation Systems
Research Design and Assessment of Mobility Solutions
