Driver Deceleration and Response Time When Approaching an Intersection: Implications for Intersection Violation Warning

Abstract

It is estimated that as many as 2.7 million crashes per year occur at intersections or are intersection related. These crashes result in over 8,500 fatalities every year and have prompted substantial research of technologies that provide vehicle-based, infrastructure-based, or infrastructure-cooperative Intersection Violation Warnings (IVWs) to drivers. Such a system would use a pre-specified algorithm to identify drivers that have a high likelihood of violating a traffic control device and subsequently warn the driver to stop. However, prior to developing these algorithms, scientists must understand how drivers respond to traffic signals. The current study characterized this driver response in terms of driver deceleration rates and response time. Drivers approached a signalized intersection at 35 mph (56.3 km/h), while their state (baseline, distracted, and willful) was manipulated and the signal phase changed at various distances. Results indicate that the chosen level of deceleration varied with the state of the driver (e.g. distracted) and the distance from the intersection at which the light changes. Response times, however, did not vary based on these factors. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of their applicability toward adapting the performance of existing Forward Collision Warning algorithms for use in IVW applications.

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