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VISUAL SEARCH BY DRIVERS IN FREEWAY MERGING: IMPLICATIONS FOR VEHICLE DESIGN

THIS PAPER ANALYZES THE VISUAL FIELD REQUIREMENTS OF PASSENGER VEHICLES IN FREEWAY MERGING SITUATIONS BY STUDYING THE MATCH BETWEEN THE VISUAL SEARCH AND SCAN BEHAVIOR OF DRIVERS AND THE ANGULAR LOCATIONS OF OTHER MERGING VEHICLES MOVING ON SIDE OR NEAR COLLISION COURSES IN THE VISUAL FIELD OF THE VEHICLE. THE RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED IN THE FOLLOWING THREE PHASES. THE FIRST PHASE RESULTS IN GENERAL INDICATE THAT THE OBSTRUCTIONS CREATED BY THE LEFT REAR ROOF PILLAR, IN THE RAMP DRIVER'S VISUAL INSTRUMENTED VEHICLE. THE EYE-MOVEMENT DATA WAS ANALYZED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF FACTORS SUCH AS DRIVING LANE (I.E., RAMP LANE VERSUS FREEWAY LANE), MERGING ROAD GEOMETRY, DISTANCE TO THE MERGE POINT, ETC., ON THE VISUAL SAMPLING BEHAVIOR OF THE TEST DRIVERS. THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST PHASE SHOWED THAT AS THE MERGING DRIVERS APPROACH TOWARD THE NOSE OF THE ENTRANCE RAMP THE VISUAL SEARCH AND SCAN BEHAVIOR OF THE RAMP DRIVERS IS DEPENDENT UPON TIME-DISTANCE FROM THE ENTRANCE RAMP NOSE AS COMPARED TO THE DRIVERS MERGING FROM THE FREEWAY MAINSTREAM LANE ADJACENT TO THE RAMP LANE. THE RESEARCH IN THE SECOND PHASE WAS, THEREFORE, DIRECTED AT DETERMINING THE ANGULAR LOCATIONS OF TARGET VEHICLES (I.E., VEHICLES APPROACHING FROM THE OTHER MERGING LANE) IN THE MERGING DRIVERS' VISUAL FIELD IN THE VICINITY OF THE ENTRANCE RAMP NOSE. A COMPUTER SIMULATION PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED FOR THIS PURPOSE. THE INPUTS TO THE COMPUTER PROGRAM WERE DETERMINED BY CONDUCTING TRAFFIC MEASUREMENT STUDIES WHICH INCLUDED COLLECTION OF DATA ON VELOCITIES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEHICLES AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ALONG THE TWO MERGING LANES OF NINE TEST SITES. THE THIRD PHASE INVOLVED THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA OBTAINED FROM THE FIRST TWO PHASES TO EVALUATE THE CRITICALITY OF THE VISUAL OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE DRIVER'S VISUAL FIELD CAUSED BY THE SIX ROOF PILLARS OF THE STANDARD FOUR-DOOR SEDANS. THE FIELD, IS THE MOST CRITICAL OF THE SIX OBSTRUCTIONS CREATED BY THE SIX ROOF PILLARS UNDER THE RIGHT HAND FREEWAY MERGING SITUATIONS. THE RESULTS THUS SUGGEST THAT WHILE PROPOSING IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CURRENT VEHICLE DESIGNS EFFORTS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TOWARDS EVALUATING ALTERNATIVES SUCH AS MINIMIZATION OF THE SIZE OF THE OBSTRUCTION CREATED BY THE LEFT REAR PILLAR, OR BY DEVISING BETTER REAR VISION SYSTEMS WITH INCREASED FIELD OF VIEW, TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT THE RIGHT HAND ENTRANCE RAMPS. /AUTHOR/

  • Corporate Authors:

    Ohio State University, Columbus

    Department of Industrial and System Engineering
    Columbus, OH  United States  43210
  • Authors:
    • Bhise, V D
  • Publication Date: 1973-10

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 10 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00222375
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Highway Safety Research Institute
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 19 1974 12:00AM