Empirical Analysis of Underlying Mechanisms and Variability in Car-Following Behavior
Taehyung Kim, David J. Lovell, and Yongjin Park
Transportation Research Record 1999, pp. 170–179.
ABSTRACT
Car-following models have been used in all microscopic traffic simulation
modeling for almost half a century to describe the process of driver behavior
in following each other in the traffic stream. In recent years, a detailed
understanding of car-following behavior has become more essential for
both the design and the assessment of advanced driver assistance systems,
such as adaptive cruise control, to help improve appropriate algorithms
and develop control strategies. However, previous experimental
studies and models of car-following behavior have some important limitations,
which make them inconsistent with real driving experience. Hence,
this study aims to contribute to the better understanding of driving behavior
in following a lead vehicle in car-following situations. Efforts have
been made to disclose the problems and the limitations in previous experimental
studies and models of car-following behavior; to build a new data
collection system, including hardware and software architecture; and to
investigate and discover the characteristics of real driving behavior in
following a lead vehicle. It is hoped that the findings will provide clues
to guide the construction of more realistic car-following models.