When do drivers abort an overtaking maneuver 5 on two-lane rural roads

Abstract

Overtaking on two-lane roads is a complex driving maneuver. Drivers who desire to overtake a lead vehicle need to evaluate the available gaps in the opposite direction and accept a sufficient gap to successfully complete the overtaking maneuver. However, often drivers realize that the gap they accepted is shorter than what they actually need to complete the maneuver safely, and therefore decide to abort the overtaking maneuver. Previous research studies focused mainly on analyzing drivers’ decisions to accept or reject available gaps in the opposite direction, and their overtaking performance. Very limited research investigated the conditions under which drivers decide to abort or complete an initiated overtaking maneuver. Increased frequency of aborted overtaking maneuvers has negative implications on safety and the operation of two-lane roads. One hundred drivers from both gender and different age groups participated in a driving simulator experiment study. Driving scenarios with different geometric and traffic characteristics were developed. Detailed trajectory data of 670 overtaking maneuvers was collected, in which 554 were successfully completed and 116 were aborted. A logistic regression model was developed which predicts the probability that a driver aborts an overtaking maneuver. The results show that the probability to abort an overtaking maneuver is significantly affected by the size of the accepted gap in the opposite direction, the desired driving speed of the driver, the speed and type of the front lead vehicle, the cumulative 20 waiting time to find an appropriate gap on the opposite direction, the road curvature, and 21 drivers’ age and gender.