Estimation of Driver’s Braking Time in Case of Emergency Based on Performance Index for Approach and Alienation

Abstract

This paper investigates a method to estimate the driver’s braking reaction time in various driving conditions considering the personal differences among drivers. First, the effects of driving conditions on individual driver’s braking reaction time are analyzed by means of analysis of variance (ANOVA) on data collected through driving simulator experiments. From the results of ANOVA, it is found that the braking reaction time is affected by preceding vehicle deceleration, preceding vehicle speed, and inter-vehicle time. Second, this paper proposes a method to estimate individual driver’s braking reaction time in emergency situations based on the performance index for approach and alienation using braking data of normal driving conditions. The braking reaction time estimated by the proposed method is compared with that determined by a conventional method. The results show that the estimation accuracy on the braking reaction time is improved by the proposed estimation method.