Forward-Lighting Configurations for Snowplows

Snow and ice control is a critical maintenance operation for New York State: each winter, up to 68 500 km (42,500 lane-mi) of highways must be cleared. Visibility during plowing operations is often poor and is further diminished by backscatter glare from the snowplow's own headlights as well as glare from lights of oncoming traffic. Results are summarized of a pilot study to identify forward (front-end) lighting configurations that might improve visibility for plow operators during such operations. During the 1993–1994 winter, eight lighting configurations were tested, two of which were identified as potential improvements over the existing pattern. Simple procedures and forms were developed for collecting reliable data. Methodological issues in performing such experiments are discussed. A statistical methodology is presented that is suitable for comparison of lighting configurations but is also applicable in other, broader contexts in which a number of items are compared by several evaluators.