Analysis of Drivers' Behaviors in Car Following Based on Performance Index for Approach and Alienation 2007-01-0440

A performance index for approach and alienation that estimates driver's status such as inattentive operation from the vehicles behavior as a result of the driver's visual cognition, judgment, and operation is proposed to prevent rear-end crashes. The index is based on the hypothesis that drivers are performing approach detection with change of area of a preceding car on the retina.

First, it is shown that safe driving behaviors of experimental results and micro data of traffic accidents with a rear-end collision as danger status can be distinguished using the proposed index. Then, results of basic laboratory experiments with a joystick and a LCD system show that the index reflects changes of the danger level, visual capability, and awareness of the drivers. In addition, a driver model of the deceleration behaviors in preceding-car-following situation is developed by hypothesizing that drivers determine the acceleration and deceleration behavior by the function of the proposed index. In addition, we investigate a test driver's deceleration behavior and characterize it based on the index. Moreover, the validity of the characterization is shown by the experiments using a driving simulator with various situations. We conclude that the drivers' deceleration behavior in moderate danger levels can be characterized well in phase plane of the proposed index and the headway distance.