THE DRIVER IN SINGLE LANE TRAFFIC

A STUDY WAS MADE OF THE REACTIONS OF DRIVERS WHO WERE IMPEDED BY AN EXPERIMENTAL CAR MOVING AT CONSTANT SLOW SPEED ON A SINGLE-LANE ROAD. THE SITUATION WAS ARRANGED SO THAT THE 20 SUBJECT DRIVERS WERE NOT AWARE THAT THEY WERE BEING OBSERVED. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS INDICATED THE DISTANCES OF THE DRIVERS BEHIND THE EXPERIMENTAL CAR OVER THE 3-MILE COURSE. THREE MODES OF DRIVER RESPONSE WERE NOTED: (A) AVOIDANCE, WHERE DRIVERS MOVED BACKWARD OUT OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE EXPERIMENTAL CAR, 10 PERCENT OF THE DRIVERS; (B) CAR- FOLLOWING, WHERE DRIVERS STAYED CLOSE TO THE EXPERIMENTAL CAR AND DID NOT EXECUTE LARGE BACKWARD OR FORWARD MOVEMENTS, 30 PERCENT OF THE DRIVERS; AND (C) A COMBINATION OF AVOIDANCE AND CAR-FOLLOWING, 60 PERCENT OF THE DRIVERS. DRIVERS' LEAD DISTANCE PATTERNS DID NOT CONFORM TO HERMAN'S CAR-FOLLOWING EQUATION. THE EQUATION MAY APPLY BETTER TO THE SITUATION WHERE A DRIVER REACTS TO DISTURBANCES INTRODUCED BY THE CAR IN FRONT. DRIVERS SHOWED AN INDIFFERENCE THRESHOLD. THEY ACCEPTED A RANGE OF POSITIONS BEHIND THE EXPERIMENTAL CAR AND REACTED ONLY WHEN LEAD DISTANCE EXCEEDED CERTAIN LIMITS. A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RESEMBLANCE WAS FOUND IN THE DRIVING PATTERNS OF OPERATORS WHO STAYED CLOSE TO THE PLANT. THIS AND PREVIOUS STUDIES SUGGEST THAT THE DRIVER SHOULD BE REGARDED AS A STRATEGIST WHO CONTINUALLY ADJUSTS HIS ACTIONS TO FIT HIS TRAVEL PURPOSE AND THE ROAD CONDITIONS HE FACES. HE IS NOT A STEREOTYPED REACTING ELEMENT OR "BLACK BOX" TO BE SIMPLY DESCRIBED BY A FIXED EQUATION. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/349/349-003.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309019613
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Road User Characteristics and presented at the 50th 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
• Conference:
  • 50th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1971-1-18 to 1971-1-22
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 31-40
• Monograph Title: Traffic Flow, Capacity and Quality of Service
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 349
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Car following; Drivers; Equations; Experiments; Reaction time; Single lane traffic; Slow moving vehicles; Traffic flow
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver reaction; Observation
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223578
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309019613
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Oct 3 1971 12:00AM