Color Blindness in Transportation

Brian Chandler—a red-green colorblind Traffic Engineer from Missouri—just started a new web site to discuss colorblindness and its effect on transportation. He named it Grey Means Go and gathered already some very nice examples.

If you tell somebody about your color blindness they often ask, if you have a driver license (“I’ll better watch out when you’re on the road :-)”). This is actually handled very differently in each country. For example in Romania you are not allowed to drive if you have any form of color blindness (visit Discromat by Vasile Tomoiaga to learn more about this).

Are colorblind drivers a danger to society?

Some say yes, others say no. Brian has at least some ideas, how to enhance certain aspects in transportation to help not only the drivers which are suffering from color blindness. Have a closer look at the following examples from Grey Means Go:

Reflective and even retroreflective backplates of traffic light signals help to identify the correct position of the light at night.
Yellow tail lamps increase the vehicle visibility and reduce reaction time in a significant way. But would this also be true for colorblind drivers?
Shaped signal heads which definitely are a great aid for colorblind drivers.

I’m looking forward to read more about this very interesting topic and I hope that also many other traffic engineers will take this issue more seriously.

2 responses on “Color Blindness in Transportation”

Vasile April 24, 2009 at 12:55 pm

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for mentioning my blog.

Actually in Romania is a bit more complex situation.

De jure the regulations can be interpreted either way. De facto, most of the examiners will not allow a colorblind to get a driver’s licence. But the funny Romanian de facto is that a minority of colorblinds are actually blocked from their dream or need. Usually the problem is solved with money.

I am medium to strong deuteranomalous and I was given a NO when tried to get a driving licence (personal, not commercial). For a year now I go to work with a scooter and have really no difficulty in discerning the traffic lights (or any other kind of problems).

But we have lots of problems as a country and solving my complaints is not a priority for the Health Department.

Myrtonos April 3, 2011 at 1:38 pm

“This is actually handled very differently in each country. For example in Romania you are not allowed to drive if you have any form of color blindness (visit Discromat by Vasile Tomoiaga to learn more about this).”

Haw each country decides to handle it may depend on factors like car usage rates relative to the population, the number of occupants carried per vehicle.

“I am medium to strong deuteranomalous and I was given a NO when tried to get a driving licence (personal, not commercial). For a year now I go to work with a scooter and have really no difficulty in discerning the traffic lights (or any other kind of problems).”

In Romania a colourweak person can be declared “unfit to drive,” even if they have adequate colour vision to have little difficluty in carrying out most normal colour based tasks and not even know, before being tested. Valise has mentioned that he can make all the basic colour distinctions and it is thus simple for him to discern traffic lights.

I realise that visual acuity, peripheral vision and depth peception are much more significant factors in driving performance that colour vision, but when all components of visual ability are equal, colours can help judge some things faster, not just traffic lights.

Vasile April 24, 2009 at 12:55 pm

Hello Daniel,

Thanks for mentioning my blog.

Actually in Romania is a bit more complex situation.

De jure the regulations can be interpreted either way. De facto, most of the examiners will not allow a colorblind to get a driver’s licence. But the funny Romanian de facto is that a minority of colorblinds are actually blocked from their dream or need. Usually the problem is solved with money.

I am medium to strong deuteranomalous and I was given a NO when tried to get a driving licence (personal, not commercial). For a year now I go to work with a scooter and have really no difficulty in discerning the traffic lights (or any other kind of problems).

But we have lots of problems as a country and solving my complaints is not a priority for the Health Department.
Myrtonos April 3, 2011 at 1:38 pm

“This is actually handled very differently in each country. For example in Romania you are not allowed to drive if you have any form of color blindness (visit Discromat by Vasile Tomoiaga to learn more about this).”

Haw each country decides to handle it may depend on factors like car usage rates relative to the population, the number of occupants carried per vehicle.

“I am medium to strong deuteranomalous and I was given a NO when tried to get a driving licence (personal, not commercial). For a year now I go to work with a scooter and have really no difficulty in discerning the traffic lights (or any other kind of problems).”

In Romania a colourweak person can be declared “unfit to drive,” even if they have adequate colour vision to have little difficluty in carrying out most normal colour based tasks and not even know, before being tested. Valise has mentioned that he can make all the basic colour distinctions and it is thus simple for him to discern traffic lights.

I realise that visual acuity, peripheral vision and depth peception are much more significant factors in driving performance that colour vision, but when all components of visual ability are equal, colours can help judge some things faster, not just traffic lights.