Boston Blind Zone Safety Initiative: Current Fleet Analysis, Market Scan, and Proposed Direct Vision Rating Framework

In about one-quarter of low-speed, truck-involved, vulnerable road user fatalities in the U.S., a driver’s direct vision was impaired. A driver has direct vision of an object outside the vehicle when it can be seen without the aid of mirrors or camera displays. Vehicles vary in how near drivers can see outside the vehicle to the front and to the side. This paper reports a first-in-the-U.S. effort with the U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center, the Boston Public Health Commission, and the Boston Transportation Department to assess the direct vision for vehicles used for Boston’s Schools, Fire, and Public Works Departments. The research team quantitatively measured direct vision in 21 vehicles using both a manual approach and a camera-based approach. Using these methods, this paper proposes a direct vision rating system that the City of Boston and other fleets can incorporate into procurement. The proposed system includes front and passenger five-star ratings based on the distance at which a child or adult would be visible directly in front of or to the passenger side of the vehicle, calibrated to federally and locally defined intersection geometric standards. A five-star vehicle enables drivers to see children in the crosswalk and children on bicycles in a buffered bicycle lane. In 11 of the 21 vehicles, drivers whose vehicle was stopped at the stop bar before a crosswalk at an intersection could not adequately see a child in the crosswalk in front or an adult on a bicycle on the side.