Safe or unsafe driving maneuvers in road traffic

Abstract

This article represents an area closely connected to the analysis of road accidents. When the act of accident is being considered by an expert, it often happens that one participant of the accident causes that the other participant has to change suddenly the speed or direction of his/her drive to prevent possible collision. For a proper consideration of the driving manoeuvres we need to know the limit of a sudden change of speed or a sudden change of direction of drive. The limit of suddenness can be taken as the limit between a safe and already unsafe driving manoeuvre (braking, transverse motion) of the vehicle. The author tried to settle this limit by measurements with respondents who were asked to subjectively classify particular driving manoeuvres. For classification of the sudden change of speed, the intensity of deceleration was altered (3 m/s2, 5 m/s2, 7 m/s2, and maximum attainable deceleration amax m/s2). At classifying a sudden change of direction, we changed the trajectory of the vehicle´s motion with transverse motion in one curve. As a result in the change of trajectory, the magnitude of side acceleration changed (values of side acceleration 2 m/s2, 3 m/s2, 4 m/s2 and 6 m/s2). From the results achieved it can be settled that the limit of a sudden change of vehicle´s speed went round a half of maximally achievable braking deceleration of personal vehicles, at approximately 3,8 to 4,8 m/s2. The limit of a sudden change of direction of drive went between 2,7 and 3,5 m/s2.of vehicles´ side acceleration. Achieved knowledge can be used in the sphere of road accident analysis when classifying driving manoeuvres of individual participants of the scene of accident. All measurements were taken with personal vehicles, thus it is possible to pay further attention to setting the limit of a sudden change of speed and direction of drive with utility vehicles, lorries and trucks, respectively.