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Bicycles/Pedestrians

Safety Toolbox: Engineering


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Scanning eyes

   
Also known as animated eyes or roving eyes.  An animated eye display uses an LED pedestrian signal head and adds animated eyes that scan from side to side. The device uses narrow (8-degree) field-of-view LEDs on a black background. The display is highly visible to pedestrians while limiting pedestrian signal displays to drivers. The blue LEDs display two blue eyes with blue eyeballs that appear to scan from left to right at the rate of one cycle per second.
objective To encourage pedestrians to look for turning vehicles traveling on an intersecting path by including a prompt as part of the pedestrian signal display.
applications Usage is based on the level of pedestrian-related collisions and conflicts involving turning vehicles.
target population All Pedestrians
crash type Pedestrian R/W Violation-Intersection, Pedestrian Violation-Intersection
advantages
  • Encourage pedestrians to watch for turning vehicles that conflict with their travel path
disadvantages
  • Installation costs.
pointers Overuse of this application could make it ineffective because pedestrians will become accustomed to it and the impact of the animation will be reduced.
cost Low, $500-$800 per pedestrian signal indication.
responsibility Public Works Department
further reading

Florida Department of Transportation (2000). Use of Animated LED Eyes Pedestrian Signals to Improve Pedestrian Safety. Final Report, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida. 

Van Houten, J., R. Retting, C. Farmer, J.E.L. Malenfant, and R. Van Houten.  Use of Animation in LED Pedestrian Signals to Improve Pedestrian Safety. ITE Journal, February 1999. 

Van Houten, R., and J.E.L. Malenfant. ITS Animation LED Signals Alert Drivers to Pedestrian Threats. ITE Journal, July 2001. 

Van Houten, R., Blasch, B., and Malenfant, J.  A Comparison of the Recognition Distance of Several Types of Pedestrian Signals with Low-Vision Pedestrians. Clinical Report.  Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Vol. 38 No. 4, July/August 2001.
examples City of Clearwater, FL, Public Works Administration; City of St. Petersburg, FL, Development Service
related tools Pedestrian-Prompting Signs, Countdown Signals

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