Driver Behavior Under a Collision Warning System - A Driving Simulator Study

Collision warning systems are expected to be an effective countermeasure to reduce traffic accidents; however there have been relatively few studies on the effects of such warning systems on the driver's collision avoidance behavior. In this study, a driving simulator which had a large motion system was used, and 45 subjects experienced crash imminent situations in which the preceding cars suddenly decelerated while the subject looked off the road. Analyzing the subjects' collision avoidance behaviors, it was found that the braking response time and the number of simulated collisions were substantially decreased with collision warnings. Furthermore, potential reduction of rear-end collisions on the road was estimated by modeling the driver's braking response.