Analyzing the relation between the gap acceptance behavior and the response time of drivers' decisions during overtaking

Abstract

Overtaking on two-lane roads can cause dangerous situations, due to drivers’ errors during the gap acceptance decision. Understanding gap acceptance decisions can help mitigate these situations. Response time (i.e. the time it takes the driver to evaluate the gap and make a decision) has been shown to provide valuable insights into the cognitive processes during gap acceptance decisions in pedestrian crossing and left turn decisions. However, for overtaking, previous studies have not investigated the response time.
I investigated how factors that play a role in gap acceptance decisions during overtaking (namely, size of the gap and the drivers’ velocity) influence the response time. I also studied the change of the drivers' velocity during the decision process. I proposed a novel method to measure the response time in drivers' overtaking decisions, and conducted an experiment to demonstrate the usefulness of the method. 25 participants were presented with multiple overtaking situations in a driving simulator experiment, with varying distance gaps. I analyzed how the probability of gap acceptance varied with the distance gap and participants’ velocity at the start of the overtaking situation using a generalized logistic mixed model. I also analyzed how the response time varied with the distance gap, participants’ velocity and the decision outcome using a linear mixed model. Lastly, I analyzed if the velocity changed between the start and the end of the decision process and whether there was a relation between the decision outcome and the distance gap and the velocity change, using a linear mixed model.
The probability of accepting a gap increased significantly with the distance gap and the velocity of the participant. The response times for rejected gaps were on average 0.7s longer than accepted gaps. The response time increased with the distance gap (42ms per 10m), but decreased with the velocity (-92ms per 1m/s). The velocity changed differently between the decision processes leading to either decisions, with an average difference of 4 m/s.
Using the proposed method, I found that the factors which influence the outcome of the decision, also influence the response time. The dependence of response time on the distance gap and participants’ velocity could be explained by the speed-accuracy tradeoff or the difficulty of the decision. Furthermore, it was shown that the drivers already adapt their velocity during the decision process, instead of after they have made their decision. So, I can conclude that using the proposed method for measuring response time can give insight in the way drivers make gap acceptance decisions during overtaking. My results provide basis for cognitive process models that can help further understand the results and are capable of predicting decision outcomes and response times.