Impact of Road Surface Conditions on Human Driving Behavior

Abstract

Human factor is a major contributor in road traffic crashes. This paper reports a comparative study of human driving behavior under icy and slippery to dry road surface conditions. Extensive car-following experiments were conducted on a test track in Japan under icy and dry conditions using Real Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS receivers. These experiments replicated various uninterrupted driving conditions in winter and summer seasons. Several speed patterns were tested for the lead vehicle representing various levels of disturbance in the traffic flow. The responses of the following drivers were analyzed based on three important human factors, namely: perception response time, sensitivity factor, and stability factor. The response time was significantly higher in icy conditions compared with dry road surface conditions while the difference in sensitivity factor was not that significant. The stability of the platoon was also analyzed from both the local and asymptotic stability points of view.