Abstract :
Mr. A. W. Devine, headlighting inspector at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, Boston, Mass., who is directly responsible for the enforcement of the motor vehicle lighting laws in the state of Massachusetts recently made an analysis of 800 night accidents which occurred on the Massachusetts highways during 1920 and 1921. A great many more accidents than this occurred during that time, but only 400 representative accidents are analyzed each year; the figures given, therefore, are an average of the results for two years. Mr. Devine found that of the 800 night accidents which he investigated, 25 per cent were due entirely to the lighting conditions; 17½ per cent being due to insufficient road illumination and 7½ per cent to glare. The ratio of the number of accidents due to each cause is very significant. The popular opinion among state officials and others interested in motor vehicle lighting has been that glare is the predominating evil. The results of this analysis would indicate that as the cause of highway accidents at night, glare is not half so serious as insufficient road illumination.
