DRIVERS' DECISIONS IN OVERTAKING AND PASSING

DRIVERS' ESTIMATIONS OF OVERTAKING AND PASSING DISTANCE WERE COMPARED WITH ACTUAL OVERTAKING DISTANCE. DRIVERS MADE ESTIMATES IN A FAMILIAR CAR AND IN AN UNFAMILIAR CAR, AT SPEEDS OF 18, 30, AND 50MPH. CONCLUSIONS WERE AS FOLLOWS: (1) DRIVERS WERE UNABLE TO ESTIMATE OVERTAKING AND PASSING DISTANCES ACCURATELY. MEAN ERROR RANGED FROM 20 TO 52 PERCENT OF PERFORMANCE DISTANCE. SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER ERRORS WERE MADE IN THE UNFAMILIAR VEHICLE THAN IN THE DRIVER'S OWN VEHICLE. (2) NEGATIVE ERRORS OF UNDERESTIMATION, WHERE THE MANEUVER REQUIRED MORE SPACE THAN JUDGED, INCREASED WITH SPEED. AT 50 MPH, 60 PERCENT OF THE ESTIMATES MADE BY DRIVERS IN THE UNFAMILIAR CAR, AND 78 PERCENT OF THOSE MADE IN OWN CARS WERE UNDER-ESTIMATIONS. (3) OVERTAKING AND PASSING REQUIRED PROPORTIONALLY MORE DISTANCES AS LEAD CAR SPEED INCREASED. (4) VEHICULAR DIFFERENCES AFFECTED PASSING DISTANCE MORE THAN DID DRIVER VARIANCE. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1968/247/247-004.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Road User Characteristics and presented at the 47th 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:
  • Gordon, Donald A
  • Mast, Truman M
• Publication Date: 1968

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 42-50
• Monograph Title: Road user characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 247
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Distance; Drivers; Estimates; Judgment (Human characteristics); Passing; Speed; Vehicle characteristics
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222950
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-005 234
• Files: HSL, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 8 1994 12:00AM