HUMAN SENSITIVITY TO MOTION AS A DESIGN CRITERION FOR HIGHWAY CURVES

HUMAN PERCEPTION THRESHOLDS TO MOTIONS AND THE VARIOUS CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTIONS IN SIX DEGREES OF FREEDOM ARE PRESENTED. EXPERIMENTS MADE TO ESTABLISH THESE THRESHOLDS FOR DISTURBANCES OF THE DURATION OR FREQUENCY THAT MIGHT ARISE FROM HIGHWAY GEOMETRY-DURATIONS IN THE RANGE OF ONE TO SEVERAL HUNDRED SECONDS-ARE DESCRIBED. ANALYSIS OF THRESHOLD DATA SHOWS THAT ON HIGHWAY CURVES THE DETECTION OF DIRECTION CHANGES, AND COMFORT LEVELS AS WELL, ARE DETERMINED BY CHANGES IN ACCELERATION, BOTH ANGULAR AND TRANSLATIONAL. ON ROADS MEETING AASHO DESIGN STNADARDS, ACCELERATIONS OR FORCES THEMSELVES REACH PERCEPTIBLE OR DISTURBING LEVELS. APPLICATIONS OF MOTION SENSITIVITY CRITERIA IN THE DESIGN OF VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL HIGHWAY CURVES AND TRANSITIONS ARE DEVELOPED, WITH EXAMPLES FROM FORD MOTOR COMPANY'S ARIZONA AND MICHIGAN PROVING GROUNDS. THE RESULTING GEOMETRIC FEATURES OF THE HIGH-SPEED ROAD SYSTEMS DIFFER IN SEVERAL IMPORTANT RESPECTS FROM CONVENTIONAL HIGHWAY PRACTICE AND PREVIOUS AUTOMOTIVE TEST TRACK DESIGNS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbbulletin/149/149-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • No 149, pp 34-56, 12 FIG, 4 APP Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • McConnell, William A
• Publication Date: 1957

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Pagination: 23p
• Monograph Title: Highway curves and test track design
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Bulletin
  • Issue Number: 149
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Geometric design; Highway design; Human factors; Motion; Perception; Sensitivity
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00203396
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jul 28 1994 12:00AM