Citation

Ohta H. Vis. Veh. 1993; 4: 91-100.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the correspondences between changes in traffic environment and individual drivers' car following behavior. To this end, a field experiment was performed using two cars. Subsequent to the field experiment, personality tests and safety attitude tests for driving were administered to each subject. The main findings of the study are as follows: (1) drivers can be classified into three groups based on distance headway control behavior related to differences in driving speed and road environment; and (2) the distribution of time headway figures seems to correspond to the semi-poisson curve. Drivers who drive their cars with small time headway displayed "unstable affect" and a low level of safety consciousness. On the other hand, drivers who drove their cars with long time headway displayed "unstable affect" and a low level of safety consciousness in driving although they were unstable. Drivers who were located in the modal area had somewhat poor safety attitudes although their affect was stable. In the discussion, reference is made to Allport's double J curve theory regarding the formal and informal norms which govern social behavior; the distribution of driver car-following behavior patterns is discussed according to this model.