The Impact of Pavement Distress to Vehicle Maneuver in Bandung City

Abstract

Pavement distress can interfere with the vehicle’s maneuver, causing the vehicle to reduce its speed and change lane or do an evasive maneuver to avoid it. These behaviors could impact traffic conflict significantly. This study aims to identify the impact of pavement distress on vehicle maneuver, specifically the speed and evasive maneuver of the vehicle when approaching poor pavement conditions. The results show differences in responding to pavement distress for each type of vehicle. Motorcycles tend to maneuver or change lanes to avoid the poor pavement condition and it may be because of its dimension, while heavy vehicles tend to reduce the speed while confronting the pavement distress. Besides, light vehicles tend to maneuver, reduce their speed, and do a combination of those responses. From this study, we can investigate that it could be dangerous if the vehicle takes an opposite lane while there is a vehicle on the opposite lane. Some vehicles reduce their speed while confronting poor pavement thus they could be more careful on roads, nevertheless, in the rainy season, it could be dangerous, especially when the pothole is covered with rainwater. The improvement of road conditions is vital to enhance travel time and reduce obstacles on road.