Drivers's characteristics in car following

Abstract

Driving is a complex behavior that requires simultaneously using complex sensory, perceptual, cognitive, and physical factors. Human-related factors have been known to be the primary causal factors of motor vehicle crashes. As a first step to reduce such crashes, it is necessary to understand drivers’ characteristics in driving situation. This study aims to investigate some driver-related factors that have not been investigated and are important in traffic safety. Especially this study focuses on drivers’ characteristics in car following situation. In Chapter 2, factors associated with rear-end collisions were reviewed. These factors were close following, driver inattention, perceptual factors and brake reaction time. Chapter 3 dealt with drivers’ perceptual characteristics in estimating a lead vehicle’s deceleration level in the laboratory using a film simulation method. In order to construct a scale of perceived deceleration level, a magnitude estimation method was used and the relationship between perceived and actual deceleration levels was expressed in terms of Stevens’s power law. The results showed that drivers generally underestimated the lead vehicle’s deceleration level and the amount of underestimation increased as the deceleration level increased. The perceived deceleration level was significantly higher for female drivers than for male drivers, but the difference decreased as the deceleration level increased. The relationship between the perceived and the actual deceleration levels fitted to Stevens’s power law very well. That is, deceleration level appeared to be scaled non-linearly, having an exponent of 0.648. In addition, the results indicated that male drivers were more sensitive to the changes in deceleration level of a lead vehicle than female drivers. But the difference between novice drivers and experienced drivers was relatively small. Chapter 4 dealt with the driving-related abilities of close following drivers. Through three field ex...