運転者の右足を置く位置がペダル踏み間違いに及ぼす影響の分析

抄録

Recently, accidents caused by elderly drivers from pedal operation error, when pedal change operation between brake and accelerator pedal have become a social problem. In the previous report, the authors, focused on the vertical pedal step, among the pedal layout of the brake and accelerator pedal, and analyzed the behavior of the right toe during the pedal change operation from the accelerator to the brake of an elderly driver, using plural type vehicles (different vertical pedal step type) as test vehicles. As a result, the authors clarified that not only physical decline due to aging but also vertical pedal step is one of the factors that influence pedal operation error. When the vertical pedal step is low, it is possible to operate the pedal in a stable state with the driver’s heel attached to the floor, but when the vertical pedal step is high, this is not possible. And furthermore, even when the pedal step is low, it was confirmed that there are cases of near misses in which the driver steps on a place near the accelerator pedal, depending on the position of the heel. In this report, the authors focused on the position where the driver places the heel of the right foot when the vertical pedal step is low, and analyzed the relationship between the position of heel and occurrence of pedal operation error. As a result, the authors confirmed that the position where driver’s heel is placed is one of the factor that influence pedal operation error.