The use of a driving simulator to determine how time pressures impact driver aggressiveness.

Details

• Creators:
  Knodler, Michael A. ; Samuel, Siby ; Fitzpatrick, Cole
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering ; University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Dept. of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Safety Research Using Simulation (SAFER-SIM) University Transportation Center
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Aggression
  • Drivers
  • Driving simulators
  • Speeding
  • Time
  • Traffic crashes
  • Traffic safety Time pressure
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  Safety Research Using Simulation (SAFER-SIM) University Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  Speeding greatly contributes to traffic safety with approximately a third of fatal crashes in the United ; States being speeding-related. Previous research has identified being late as a primary cause of ; speeding. In this driving simulator study, a virtual drive was constructed to evaluate how time pressures, ; or hurried driving, affected driver speed choice and driver behavior. In particular, acceleration profiles, ; gap acceptance, willingness to pass, and dilemma zone behavior were used, in addition to speed, as ; measures to evaluate whether being late increased risky and aggressive driving behaviors. Thirty-six ; drivers were recruited with an equal male/female split and a broad distribution of ages. Financial ; incentives and completion time goals calibrated from a control group were used to generate a Hurried ; and Very Hurried experimental group. As compared to the control group, Very Hurried drivers selected ; higher speeds, accelerated faster after red lights, accepted smaller gaps on left turns, were more likely ; to pass a slow vehicle, and were more likely to run a yellow light in a dilemma zone situation. These ; trends were statistically significant and were also evident with the Hurried group, but a larger sample ; would be needed to show statistical significance. The findings from this study provide evidence that ; hurried drivers select higher speeds and exhibit riskier driving behaviors. These conclusive results have ; possible implications in areas such as transportation funding and commercial motor vehicle safety.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32619/dot_32619_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.08 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2cb3c652244ccaa25c134417ced5635ef1615bd0557d7e0062db6b167d2141c82fc2025d7c10e6a52ab19e2a5200b0dd6a1830f6d434710796c5eaee5363230c