OVERTAKING OF LONG VEHICLE COMBINATIONS

OMKOERNINGAR AV LAANGA FORDONSKOMBINATIONER

A traffic study was carried out in order to evaluate the effect of vehicle length on the accident risk when long vehicle combinations were overtaken. Also the influence of a vehicle-mounted sign indicating the length of the vehicle was investigated. The experiment was performed as a full scale test in a real traffic environment. Two test vehicles, 18 and 24 metres long respectively, were driven simultaneously along the test sections at a constant speed of 70 km/h and 10 km apart. Overtaking processes were recorded by means of film cameras on the roof of the test vehicles. The test vehicles covered a total mileage of 13640 km during the test period of eight weeks. The time gap was used as a measure of accident risk, i.e. The number of seconds elapsing between the conclusion of an overtaking operation and the time when the overtaking vehicle meets or could have met an oncoming vehicle. The differences in mean values of time gaps between the two vehicle lengths were very small. There was a slight tendency for the 24 metre vehicle to induce a greater number of hazardous overtakings than the 18 metre vehicle, but this difference has not been statistically proved. The vehicle-mounted signs indicating vehicle lengths were found to improve meeting margins. The report includes an English summary of 12 pages. /TRRL/

• Corporate Authors:

  Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)

  Linköping,   Sweden  SE-581 95
• Authors:
  • Hammarström, Ulf
• Publication Date: 1976

Language

• Swedish

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 180 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cameras; Hazards; Headways; Heavy vehicles; Length; Passing; Risk assessment; Signalization; Signs; Tractor trailer combinations; Traffic crashes; Traffic engineering; Vehicle spacing; Vehicles; Visibility distance
• Old TRIS Terms: Vehicle combinations
• ITRD Terms: 1057: Air transport network; 685: Headway; 6488: Length; 1078: Lock (waterway); 1822: Overtaking; 556: Signalization; 655: Traffic engineering; 694: Vehicle spacing; 6793: Visibility distance
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00163351
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
• Report/Paper Numbers: Report No. 103 Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 13 1978 12:00AM