Light truck vehicles (LTVs) contribution to rear-end collisions

Light truck vehicles (LTVs), comprising light-duty trucks, vans, and sport-utility vehicles drive higher and wider than passenger cars which could affect the visibility for the following passenger car driver. This paper investigates the contribution of LTVs to rear-end collisions resulting from horizontal visibility blockage using the University of Central Florida (UCF) sophisticated reconfigurable driving simulator. Indeed, a sudden stop of a leading LTV, in the shadow of the blindness of the succeeding passenger car driver, may deprive the latter of a sufficient response time, which may lead to high probability of a rear-end collision. To investigate this issue, two scenarios were developed in the UCF driving simulator. The first scenario serves as a base scenario where the simulator car follows a passenger car, and the second scenario serves as a test scenario, where the simulator car follows an LTV. The results obtained by comparing the scenarios showed that LTVs produce more rear-end collisions at unsignalized intersections due to horizontal visibility blockage and due to the resulting drivers' behavior when driving behind an LTV.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V5S-4N7YGSY-2/2/0ed02389a2869b4411d4038bbb0abafd
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00014575
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission from Elsevier
• Authors:
  • Harb, Rami
  • Radwan, Essam
  • Yan, Xuedong
  • Abdel-Aty, Mohamed
• Publication Date: 2007-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp. 1026-1036
• Serial:
  • Accident Analysis & Prevention
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0001-4575
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00014575

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Car following; Drivers; Driving simulators; Light trucks; Reaction time; Rear end crashes; Sport utility vehicles; Truck crashes; Unsignalized intersections; Vans; Visibility
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01080674
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 15 2007 10:32AM