THE EFFECTS OF SIGHT DISTANCE AND CONTROLLED IMPEDANCE ON PASSING BEHAVIOR

RESEARCH WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE SINGULAR AND COMBINED EFFECTS OF IMPEDANCE DISTANCE, IMPEDANCE SPEED, PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE, AND TRAFFIC VOLUME ON DRIVER ACCEPTANCE OF PASSING OPPORTUNITIES AS THEY OCCUR ON RURAL TWO-LANE HIGHWAYS. A FURTHER AIM WAS TO DESCRIBE EMPIRICALLY THE EFFECTS OF THESE VARIABLES ON THE NATURE OF THE PASSING MANEUVER. THE REPORT PRESENTS A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE METHODOLOGY, TEST SITES, INSTRUMENTATION, EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES, AND MAJOR RESULTS. CONTROLLED ROAD TESTS WERE DESIGNED SUCH THAT THE SUBJECT DRIVER WAS UNAWARE THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN AN EXPERIMENT. AN EXPERIMENTER-CONTROLLED, INSTRUMENTED VAN PRODUCED AND REGULATED THE IMPEDANCE CONDITIONS. PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE WAS CONTROLLED THROUGH TEST SITE SELECTION, AND TRAFFIC VOLUME AT THE TEST SITES WAS TREATED AS A SAMPLING VARIABLE. THE MAJOR RESULTS INDICATE THAT PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE IS THE PREDOMINANT VARIABLE THAT INFLUENCES THE DECISION TO PASS. AN ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE, IN WHICH THE EFFECTS OF TRAFFIC VOLUME WERE CONTROLLED, YIELDED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FOR IMPEDANCE SPEED AND THE IMPEDANCE-DISTANCE/SIGHT-DISTANCE INTERACTION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1969/292/292-005.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Operational Effects of Geometrics and presented at the 48th Annual Meeting. 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:
  • Hostetter, Robert S
  • Seguin, Edmond L
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 64-78
• Monograph Title: Drivers and driving
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 292
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Distance; Drivers; Electrical impedance; Mechanical impedance; Passing sight distance; Road tests; Rural highways; Speed; Traffic volume; Two lane highways
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223087
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Paper No 1
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 9 1970 12:00AM