Highlights The validity of the driving simulator for studies of passing behavior was investigated. Significant similarities in gap acceptance and perception-reaction time behavior in the simulator and in the field were found. Level of risk-taking by drivers using he driving simulator was similar to that in the field. Although drivers passed at slower speeds in the simulator than in the field, the distribution shapes were similar. Iranian and Italian drivers showed similar passing behaviors.

    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 characteristics were realized from the real segment which had previously been surveyed with drones to collect videos and derive data on real passing maneuvers. The results for the two-sided K–S test revealed no statistically significant difference in the accepted gap, effective accepted gap, perception reaction time, and time to collision variables between the field and the simulator at the 95 % confidence level. However, when conducting a one-sided K–S test, some statistical directional differences were found in the cases of the accepted gap and perception reaction time variables, which exhibited lower values in the field compared to the simulator again at the 95 % confidence level. Although the passing duration was statistically higher in the simulator than in the field, the shape of the two distributions was not statistically different. Analysis showed that differences in the passing duration are due to the lower passing vehicle speed and lower speed difference with the simulator than in the field, which are caused by truncating headways in the subject direction in the simulator. The cultural background of participants did not result in any discernible difference in passing behavior. The results would support a more extensive use of driving simulators in future passing behavior studies.


    Access

    Check access

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

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


    Contributors:
    Karimi, A. (author) / Bassani, M. (author) / Boroujerdian, AM. (author) / Catani, L. (author)


    Publication date :

    2020-02-19




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English





    Passing practices at no-passing zones

    Whedon, B. | Engineering Index Backfile | 1951


    Passing Behavior on Two-Lane Roads in Real and Simulated Environments

    Llorca, Carlos / Farah, Haneen | Transportation Research Record | 2016



    Development of guidelines for location of passing lane on two-lane roads

    Russell,E.R. / Mutabazi,M.I. / Stokes,R.W. et al. | Automotive engineering | 1999