Citation

George RM. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 1992; 1992: 331-337.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article describes a study undertaken to assess the feasibility of providing the driver of an articulated vehicle with information on the roll-stability of the trailer unit. The study involved the investigation of the in-service characteristics of articulated vehicles as they approach the roll-threshold. The ARRB tilt deck was used to determine the roll-threshold level for each of the five test vehicles in the laden condition. The vehicle speed, the effective radius of curvature of the prime-mover travel, and the superelevation of the road surface (cross-slope) were calculated from the recorded data. Analysis of the data showed that drivers i) generally operate within a relatively narrow band of their vehicles' roll- limit (between 50-60%), and ii) adjust their steer path and entry speed through curves to operate within that narrow band. A relationship between the proportion of roll- threshold generated and the critical time available to advise the driver of imminent rollover has been developed.