Investigation into passing behavior at passing zones to validate and extend the use of driving simulators in two-lane roads safety analysis.

Investigation into passing behavior at passing zones to validate and extend the use of driving simulators in two-lane roads safety analysis. Accid Anal Prev. 2020 Mar 02;139:105487 Authors: Karimi A, Bassani M, Boroujerdian AM, Catani L Abstract A passing maneuver allows drivers to maintain their desired speed on two-lane highways. However, it entails a high risk of collision with vehicles travelling in the opposite direction. Investigating drivers' behavior while performing passing maneuvers could provide helpful information on the factors that influence this process. Driving simulators have become important tools for driving behavior research studies as they are safe, facilitate the controlled use of experimental variables, and generate detailed output data. It remains to be seen whether simulator results can be considered representative of real-life driving conditions. With respect to passing maneuvers, no study has made a comprehensive and direct comparison between drivers' passing behavior in the field and driver behavior observed in a simulated environment. In this validation study, a fixed-base interactive simulator was used to collect data from fifty-four participants (eighteen Iranians and thirty-six Italians) involved in several traffic scenarios on a two-lane rural highway segment (obtained by varying the speed of opposing vehicles, lead vehicles and headways in the opposite direction). A 3D model and its environmental cha...
Source: Accident; Analysis and Prevention. - Category: Accident Prevention Authors: Tags: Accid Anal Prev Source Type: research