Driver heterogeneity in rubbernecking behaviour at an incident site (poster)

Abstract

Incidents can affect the flow in non?incident direction due to rubbernecking. To this date, only homogeneous rubbernecking behaviour has been assessed. This study provides insights into inter?driver heterogeneity in rubbernecking behaviour while passing an incident site. We use empirical trajectory data obtained from a helicopter?mounted video camera. The length of study section is approximately 220 meters, starting at 125 meters upstream of the incident site. Results show that the variations in speed in the upstream of incident location are substantially higher within passenger car drivers then within the truck drivers. The passenger cars in the median lane reduce the speed further upstream, mostly with sharp deceleration while passenger cars in the shoulder lane reduce the speed closer to the incident scene. Some drivers did not exhibit rubbernecking behavior, passing the incident with a steady speed. The results provide a better understanding of rubbernecking behaviour and can be used to establish determinant factors to measure the rubbernecking effects.