access icon free Do drivers reduce their headway to a lead vehicle because of the presence of platoons in traffic? A conformity study conducted within a simulator

© The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Received 05/10/2012, Accepted 26/12/2012, Revised 04/12/2012, Published

Electronically coupled platoons of vehicles have the potential to increase the efficiency of transport on unmodified motorways. In doing so, the time headway (THW) between participating vehicles will be dramatically reduced. The present study investigated whether drivers are willing to keep a THW smaller than their preferred one to conform to the norm established by the presence of platoons holding short THWs. Firstly, two constructs had to be distinguished to answer this question: the preferred THWs represent a range of THWs drivers feel safe with and the THW that is indeed adopted by drivers in a given situation (adopted THW). Secondly, comparing adopted and preferred THW informs about whether drivers would adopt a THW beyond their preferred one as a result of the influence of platoons. Forty-two participants were asked to follow a lead vehicle (LV) in three different traffic conditions. In two conditions, there was a platoon of vehicles in the inside lane, where the THW between the vehicles was either large (THW = 1.0 s) or short (THW = 0.3 s). In a third baseline drive, the LV was the only vehicle present. Preferred THW was assessed after each traffic conditions with the psychophysical method of limits. Results show a consistency of preferred THW and there is a significant difference in adopted THW values throughout the conditions, which supports the idea of two distinct constructs. Further, participants’ minimum adopted THW did not drop under but was very close to the minimum preferred THW in condition THW03. It can be concluded that platoons could lead drivers to drive closer to their limits. Further studies need to investigate if in other conditions, drivers would go below their limit and in this case, consequences on the drivers (e.g. in terms of safety, workload and performance) will also require further investigations.

Inspec keywords: psychology; road safety; road traffic

Other keywords: electronically coupled vehicle platoons; THW03 condition; lead vehicle; time headway value reduction; psychophysical method; unmodified motorways; LV; transport efficiency improvement; THW value reduction; traffic conditions; baseline drive

Subjects: Social and behavioural sciences computing; Traffic engineering computing

References

    1. 1)
      • 26. Gouy, M., Diels, C., Reed, N., Stevens, A., Burnett, G.: ‘Preferred time headway assessment with the method of limits’. European Conf. on Human Centered Design for Intelligent Transport Systems, Valencia, 2012.
    2. 2)
      • 7. Eick, E.M., Debus, G.: ‘Adaptation effects in an automated car-following scenario’. Proc. ICTTP 2004 Traffic and Transport Psychology: Theory and Applications, 2005.
    3. 3)
      • 32. Van Winsum, W., Heino, A.: ‘Choice of time-headway in car-following and the role of time-to-collision information in braking’, Ergonomics, 1996, 39, (4), pp. 579–592 (doi: 10.1080/00140139608964482).
    4. 4)
      • 2. Huang, Q., Benmimoun, A.: ‘Challenges of platooning on public motorways’ (ITS, Busan, 2010).
    5. 5)
      • 20. Fuller, R.: ‘Determinants of time headway adopted by truck drivers’, Ergonomics, 1981, 24, (6), pp. 463–474 (doi: 10.1080/00140138108924868).
    6. 6)
      • 24. Van der Hulst, M., Rothengatter, T., Meijman, T.: ‘Strategic adaptations to lack of preview in driving’, Transp. Res. F, Psychol. Behav., 1998, 1, (1), pp. 59–75 (doi: 10.1016/S1369-8478(98)00004-7).
    7. 7)
      • 23. Herman, R., Lam, T., Rothery, R.: ‘An experiment on car size effects in traffic’, Traffic Eng. Control, 1973, 15, pp. 90–93.
    8. 8)
      • 16. van Winsum, W.: ‘Preferred time headway in car-following and individual differences in perceptual-motor skills’, Perceptual Motor Skills, 1998, 84, pp. 863–873 (doi: 10.2466/pms.1998.87.3.863).
    9. 9)
      • 31. Cohen, J.: ‘A power primer’, Psychol. Bull., 1992, 112, (1), pp. 155 (doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155).
    10. 10)
      • 22. de Waard, D., Kruizingaa, A., Brookhuis, K.A.: ‘The consequences of an increase in heavy goods vehicles for passenger car drivers’ mental workload and behaviour: a simulator study’, Accident Anal. Prevent., 2008, 40, pp. 818–828 (doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2007.09.029).
    11. 11)
      • 27. DSA: ‘Official highway code’ (Norwich, 2011).
    12. 12)
      • 9. Cialdini, R.B.: ‘Influence: science and practice’ (Allyn and Bacon Boston, MA, 2001), Vol. 4.
    13. 13)
      • 28. Brackstone, M., McDonald, M.: ‘Driver headway: How close is too close on a motorway?’ Ergonomics, 2007, 50, (8), pp. 1183–1195 (doi: 10.1080/00140130701318665).
    14. 14)
      • 21. Postans, R., Wilson, W.: ‘Close-following on the motorway’, Ergonomics, 1983, 26, (4), pp. 317–327 (doi: 10.1080/00140138308963348).
    15. 15)
      • 6. Skottke, E.-M.: ‘Automatisierter kolonnenverkehr und adaptiertes fahrverhalten. Untersuchung des Abstandsverhaltens zur Bewertung moeglicher kuenftiger Verkehrsszenarien’ (Dr. Kovac, Hamburg, 2007).
    16. 16)
      • 30. Fechner, G.T.: ‘Elemente der psychophysik (Vol. 1)’ (Breitkopf and Härte, Leipzig, Germany, 1889).
    17. 17)
      • 1. Lank, C., Haberstroh, M., Wille, M.: ‘Interaction of human, machine, and environment in automated driving systems’, Transp. Res. Rec., J. Transp. Res. Board, 2011, 2243, (-1), pp. 138–145 (doi: 10.3141/2243-16).
    18. 18)
      • 11. Van Houten, R., Nau, P.A.: ‘A comparison of the effects of posted feedback and increased police surveillance on highway speeding’, J. Appl. Behav. Anal., 1981, 14, (3), pp. 261–271 (doi: 10.1901/jaba.1981.14-261).
    19. 19)
      • 13. Fildes, B., Rumbold, G., Leening, A.: ‘Speed behaviour and drivers’ attitude to speeding’, Report, 1991, vol. 16, Accident Research Centre, Monash University.
    20. 20)
      • 8. Ajzen, I., Madden, T.J.: ‘Prediction of goal-directed behavior: attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control’, J. Exp. Soc. Psychol., 1986, 22, (5), pp. 453–474 (doi: 10.1016/0022-1031(86)90045-4).
    21. 21)
      • 10. De Pelsmacker, P., Janssens, W.: ‘The effect of norms, attitudes and habits on speeding behavior: scale development and model building and estimation’, Accident Anal. Prev., 2007, 39, (1), pp. 6–15 (doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2006.05.011).
    22. 22)
      • 15. Evans, L.: ‘Traffic safety and the driver’ (Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1991).
    23. 23)
      • 25. Fuller, R.: ‘What drives the driver? Surface tensions and hidden consensus’. Proc. Fourth Int. Conf. on Traffic and Transport Psychology, Washington, DC, 2008.
    24. 24)
      • 19. Taieb-Maimon, M., Shinar, D.: ‘Minimum and comfortable driving headways: reality versus perception’, Hum. Factors, J. Hum. Factors Ergon. Soc., 2001, 43, (1), pp. 159.
    25. 25)
      • 12. Groeger, J., Chapman, P.: ‘Normative influences on decisions to offend’, Appl. Psychol., 1997, 46, (3), pp. 265–285 (doi: 10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01230.x).
    26. 26)
      • 17. Jonah, B.: ‘Sensation seeking and risky driving: a review and synthesis of the literature’, Accident Anal. Prevent., 1997, 29, (5), pp. 651–665 (doi: 10.1016/S0001-4575(97)00017-1).
    27. 27)
      • 4. Dávila, A., Nombela, M.: ‘SARTRE: SAfe road TRains for the environment’ (ITS, Busan, 2010).
    28. 28)
      • 29. Ayres, T., Li, L., Schleuning, D., Young, D.: ‘Preferred time-headway of highway drivers’. Intelligent Transportation Systems, Oakland, CA, IEEE, 2001, 2002.
    29. 29)
      • 3. Ramakers, R., Henning, K., Gies, S., Abel, D., Max, H.: ‘Electronically coupled truck platoons on German highways’. IEEE Int. Conf. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, San Antonio, 2009.
    30. 30)
      • 18. Evans, L., Wasielewski, P.: ‘Risky driving related to driver and vehicle characteristics’, Accident Anal. Prevent., 1983, 15, (2), pp. 121–136 (doi: 10.1016/0001-4575(83)90068-4).
    31. 31)
      • 14. Vogel, K.: ‘What characterizes a'free vehicle'in an urban area?’, Transp. Res. F, Traffic Psychol. Behav., 2002, 5, (1), pp. 15–29 (doi: 10.1016/S1369-8478(02)00003-7).
    32. 32)
      • 5. Horowitz, R., Varaiya, P.: ‘Control design of an automated highway system’. Proc. IEEE, 2002.
http://iet.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1049/iet-its.2012.0156
Loading

Related content

content/journals/10.1049/iet-its.2012.0156
pub_keyword,iet_inspecKeyword,pub_concept
6
6
Loading