title: Experimental research on safety impacts of the inside shoulder based on driving simulation.
abstract: Statistical data shows that single-vehicle crashes account for half of all traffic crashes on expressways in China, and previous research has indicated that main contributing factors were related to whether and how the inside shoulder was paved. The inside shoulder provides space for drivers to make evasive maneuvers and accommodate driver errors. However, lower-cost construction solutions in China have resulted in the design of numerous urban expressway segments that lack inside shoulders. This paper has two objectives. The first is to reveal the safety impacts of inside shoulders on urban expressways by driving simulator experiment. The second objective is to propose optimal range and recommended value of inside shoulder width for designing inside shoulders of urban expressways. The empirical data, including subjects' eye movement data, heart rate (HR) and the lateral position of vehicles, were collected in a driving simulator. The data were analyzed to evaluate the safety impacts of the inside shoulder. The results have revealed that the inside shoulder has an impact on drivers' visual perception, behaviors, and psychology; in particular, it has a significant effect on vehicle operations. In addition, this paper recommends the desired and optimal inside shoulder widths for eight-lane, two-way divided expressways.
authors.affiliation: College of Metropolitan Transportation, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.
authors.forename: Xiaohua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Metropolitan Transportation, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China. Electronic address: dinghan86@emails.bjut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: College of Metropolitan Transportation, Beijing University of Technology, 100 Pingleyuan, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100124, China.
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Texas Department of Transportation, 10016 Liriope Cove, Austin, TX 78750, USA.
authors.forename: Jianming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Highway, Ministry of Transport of PR China, 8 Xitucheng Rd., Beijing 100088, China.
authors.forename: Liande
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004779:Environment Design; D005133:Eye Movements; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D009949:Orientation; D012449:Safety; D014796:Visual Perception
keywords: Driving simulation; Inside shoulder; Optimal width; Safety impacts; Traffic engineering