Exploring the effect of fog on lane-changing characteristics utilizing the SHRP2 naturalistic driving study data

Abstract

This paper provides valuable insights into lane-changing characteristics based on driver behavior in fog and clear weather conditions using the Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) data collected by the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2). While a few studies focused on lane-changing behavior based on driver type, the impact of adverse weather conditions was not addressed. This study tested several hypotheses to identify significant differences in number of lane-changing events per mile and lane-changing durations in fog and clear weather under different traffic regimes. Additionally, different distributions of lane-changing durations were fitted. Using K-means cluster analysis technique, drivers were classified into two categories: conservative and aggressive. It was found that in heavy fog the mean lane-changing durations were significantly higher than clear weather under mixed-flow conditions. Moreover, the cluster analysis results revealed that conservative drivers had longer lane-changing durations in heavy fog conditions compared to clear weather. The results of this study could be used in microsimulation model calibration and validation related to lane change in reduced visibility due to fog and various traffic conditions.