RESEARCH INTO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE QUALITY OF ROAD TRAFFIC

ONDERZOEK NAAR HET KARAKTERISEREN VAN DE KWALITEIT VAN WEGVERKEER

The major aim of this thesis was to obtain information about factors that characterize the quality of traffic as experienced by the driver of a passenger car. In order to obtain an insight in this matter, scientific publications were reviewed, and three experiments were made. In these experiments the dynamic environment of drivers of passenger-cars on roads with dual two lane carriageways was studied. A principal assumption was derived from psychological, behavioural literature that the quality of traffic as experienced by the driver of a car is determined by travel time and the mental load of the driver. Two types of experiments were made. In one classical experiment, test persons drove an instrumented vehicle in different traffic flows. During these test runs the test car drivers were aware of the fact that their heart-beat was being measured. For this reason it is probable that they experienced experimental stress. In order to avoid the influence of this stress on the measurement results, another new method of investigation was used. In these experiments the dynamic environment of random car drivers was determined by means of video-cameras and of road detectors placed in or on the road surface and recording the point of time at which a car passes over them. The subjective mental load of the driver was determined by means of interviews. (TRRL)

  • Corporate Authors:

    Delft University of Technology

    Afdeling der Civiele Techniek, Stevinweg 1
    2208 Delft,   Netherlands 
  • Authors:
    • BROUWER, C
  • Publication Date: 1983

Language

  • Dutch

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 308 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00394257
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
  • Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph
  • Files: ITRD, TRIS
  • Created Date: Jul 31 1985 12:00AM