An Investigation on Safety Performance Assessment of Close-Following Behavior of Heavy Vehicle Using Empirical-Simulation Technique

Mohamed Rehan Karim, Ahmad Saifizul, Hideo Yamanaka, Airul Sharizli, Rahizar Ramli

Center for Transportation Research, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Tokushima, Tokushima, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/jtts.2014.41003                

Abstract

One of the main causes of rear-end crashes is attributed to close-following and hazardous driving behavior. A study was conducted to investigate the close-following behavior of heavy vehicle under various heavy vehicle categories, travel speeds and gross vehicle weights (GVW). Investigation is based on data obtained from simulation and empirical observations. A safety performance assessment of close-following behavior of heavy vehicles by using empirical-simulation technique is proposed. The simulation, which incorporates vehicle dynamics, is to generate the minimum safe time gap (MSTG) for truck-following-car situations. MSTG is defined as the minimum time required by the following vehicle to decelerate and stop without hitting the leading vehicle when both leading and following vehicles apply the emergency brakes. Based on comparison between the actual time gap data and the MSTG, a safety performance assessment technique that considers vehicle type, vehicle braking characteristics, truck GVW and speed is proposed for truck-following-car situation.

Keywords

Road Safety; Vehicle Overloading; Safety Indicator; Close-Following; Traffic Accidents; Weigh-in-Motion

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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