PURPOSES: This study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of safety with the standard for threshold zone luminance as specified in the Recommendation for Lighting of Traffic Tunnel, which has been widely adopted worldwide. METHODS: A driving test of the subject in a full-scale road tunnel was conducted. The adaptation luminance and threshold zone luminance, which should be known for the driver to perceive an object within stopping sight distance, were obtained. These values were compared with the adaptation luminance and threshold zone luminance obtained by the existing reduced model test and tunnel lighting standard that has served as a guideline for the current threshold zone luminance standard. RESULTS : According to this study, threshold zone luminance should be increased to at least 1.8 times the value proposed in the existing studies and to twice the domestic tunnel lighting standard (KS C 3703: 2014). CONCLUSIONS : The threshold zone luminance proposed in this study differs largely from that obtained from indoor tests and from the current tunnel lighting standard used worldwide; this difference may be attributed to the fact that the indoor tests did not incorporate driving workload, non-uniformity of luminance distribution in terms of sight, and factors that reduce the visibility of the driver, such as the light reflected into the driver’s eyes. Hence, it is necessary to further review the factors that reduce the visibility of drivers approaching tunnels in order to determine the rational tunnel threshold zone luminance.

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to suggest a basis for setting appropriate safety goals specifically related to the threshold zone luminance in a vehicular traffic tunnel. . METHODS: In the test, drivers were divided into two groups. One group consisted of all drivers (average drivers) group with an age ratio of drivers holding domestic driver's license and driver group by age to produce threshold zone luminance in the tunnel. The threshold zone luminance produced as a result was used to analyze how it affects the safety level of each driver group and provide a basis for setting an appropriate safety criterion that can be used to determine threshold zone luminance. We used test equipment, test conditions, and ananalysis of threshold zone luminance identical to that reported by ChoandJung(2014) but the values of adaptation luminance in our analys is were expanded to range from100 to10,000 cd/m2. RESULTS : Adaptation luminance and threshold zone luminance are found to be related by a quadratic function. The threshold zone luminance needed by older drivers to ensure a certain safety level is significantly higher than that for drivers of other age brackets when adaptation luminance increases. 56% of older drivers are at an increased risk of an accident at the same luminance for which the safety level of average drivers is 75%. The safety level that can be achieved for older drivers increases to above 60% when threshold zone luminance level is set with the goal of attaining a safety level of more than 85% for average drivers. The safety level that can be attained for average drivers is above 90% when the threshold zone luminance is high enough to ensure over 75% in the safety level of older drivers. Results of this study are applicable to highways and others whose designed speed is 100 km/h. CONCLUSIONS : Threshold zone luminance determined on the basis of drivers having average visual ability is of limited value as a performance standard for ensuring the safety of older drivers. Hence, safety level for older drivers should be considered separately from safety levels for drivers with an average ability to avoid risk. Upward adjustment of older drivers' safety level in the process of determining appropriate threshold zone luminance in a vehicular traffic tunnel may bring both tangible and intangible benefit as a result of reducing accidents. However, there is an associated dollar cost arising from installing and operating lights. As a result, the economic impact of these trade-offs should also be considered.

PURPOSES : This study has been performed with the objective to determine threshold zone luminance of adaptation luminance by target safety level in a vehicular traffic tunnel with design speed set at 100km/h . METHODS: The study made a miniature capable of portraying changes in luminance distribution within 2×10。conical field of view of the driver approaching to the tunnel for the test. Test conditions were set based on justifications for CIE 88-1990's threshold zone luminance used as a reference by domestic tunnel light standards (KS C 3703 : 2010). Luminance contrast of object background and object is 23%, object presentation duration is 0.5 seconds, and size of the object background is 7.3×11.5m2 RESULTS: Threshold zone luminance was set within adaptation luminance of 100~3,000cd/m2. Adaptation luminance and threshold zone luminance based on 50%, 75% and 90% target safety level all showed a relatively high linear relationship. According to findings in the study, it is not appropriate to specify the relationship between adaptation luminance and threshold zone luminance as luminance ratio. Rather, direct utilization of the linear relationship gained from the study findings appears to be the better solution. CONCLUSIONS : Findings of this study may be used to determine operation of threshold zone luminance based on target safety level. However, a proper verification and validity of test results are required. Furthermore, a study to determine proper threshold zone luminance level considering target safety level reviewed in this study and various decision-making factors such as economic conditions in Korea and energyrelated policies should be carried out in addition. Additional tests on adaptation luminance greater than 3,000cd/m2 will be performed, through which application scope of the test findings will be broadened.