TITLE:
An Investigation on Safety Performance Assessment of Close-Following Behavior of Heavy Vehicle Using Empirical-Simulation Technique
AUTHORS:
Mohamed Rehan Karim, Ahmad Saifizul, Hideo Yamanaka, Airul Sharizli, Rahizar Ramli
KEYWORDS:
Road Safety; Vehicle Overloading; Safety Indicator; Close-Following; Traffic Accidents; Weigh-in-Motion
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Transportation Technologies,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
16,
2014
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.