Iran Occupational Health

  Background and aims: Human factors are significant factors causing car accident s . The driver when noticed by brake lights will pay attention to the danger and react appropriately. An appropriate reaction time can prevent car accidents. The aim of this study was to assess driver's reaction time to dynamic flashing and standard brake lights using a driving simulator.

  Methods: This experimental study was done on 46 volunteer drivers (10 female, 36 male). Participants drove for an hour under day and night conditions on a driving simulator system with standard brake lights and dynamic flashing brake lights.

  Results: Results showed that as the age of drivers increased one year , the brake reaction time was decreased 11.585 ms. Women had slower brake reaction time than men. There was no significant relationship between driving condition and brake reaction time. The time elapsed since taking driving license has not any significant effect on reaction time.

  Conclusion: In general, this research showed that using dynamic flashing brake light with a flashing frequency of 7 Hz reduced the brake reaction time significantly.