Analysis of Driver Behavior in Mixed Autonomous and Non-autonomous Traffic Flows

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles are expected to improve road safety and efficiency in future transportation systems. A driving simulator study was designed to identify driving styles and the cooperation between human drivers and other AVs. The study captured driver’s following behavior in a fully autonomous driving environment at unsignalized intersections. Participants were asked to make a series of maneuvers (straight through intersection, left turn, and right turn) in two different speed conditions (30, 40 mph) and two different traffic density conditions (with or without other traffic). Analysis of Variance showed that drivers had a significantly larger deviation (defined as the area between two trajectories) during left turn maneuvers when they were traveling at higher speeds. Moreover, the first turning operation had smaller deviation than the second turning operation. The findings have implications for the design of driver-assistance guidance systems in future mixed autonomous and non-autonomous traffic flows.

Publication
In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 2022