Human Factors: Traffic Behaviour

 

Traffic Behaviour Research

 
In 1985, TNO Vehicle Dynamics started several collaborative research projects with the IZF. These projects focused on the interaction between the driver and the vehicle, and its consequences for vehicle control. The research specifically addressed three areas:

  • maintaining control under difficult conditions,
  • the ergonomics of the car,
  • and the influence of the road and surroundings.

Notably, these experiments were unique because computer simulations were used for the first time. By creating manipulable traffic situations with technical aids, it was possible to eliminate the influence of the human driver using a steering machine. Wind machines were also used to generate strong crosswinds. Rijkswaterstaat utilised the results of these experiments to design safer highway ramps and exits.

Additionally, further work was done on the interaction between the road, vehicle, and driver, including developing an “intelligent” accelerator pedal that adjusted the vehicle’s speed based on equipment placed along the road to ensure safe driving conditions.

The multi-year and strategic relationship with the  SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research led to the establishment of a separate TNO-IZF Traffic Behaviour Department in 1969. Later, Rijkswaterstaat also became an important client for this department. Finally, the Traffic Behaviour Department focused on driving behaviour, road and vehicle design and learning processes. Major achievements of the traffic research were:

  • changing the colour of Dutch traffic lights for better recognition by colour-blind people;
  • changing the colour of the jackets of road workers and crossing guards from yellow to orange, to achieve better conspicuity (this research was already carried out in 1964 within the Department of Visuology);
  • the safe design of the Dutch road network and the various ‘engineering structures’ in it (including the requirements to be set for legibility, signalling and marking), and
  • assessing the unsafety of intersections in advance.

The TNO-IZF Traffic Behaviour Department possessed a garage in the new IZF building wing for parking their instrumented cars including the ICARUS.

ICARUS

Photo collage of the instrumented car ICARUS
Photo collage of the instrumented car ICARUS

 

Defence research movie from 1990 on computer support for drivers well before GPS came on the market (ICARUS)
Defence research movie from 1990 on computer support for drivers well before GPS came on the market (ICARUS)

Eye and head movement equipment for traffic studies

Special eye-recording equipment was also developed to record the eye movements of motorists. Topics at that time included driving at night (e.g. visibility of road markings at night and accidents when convoy driving at night), comprehensibility of traffic signs, and the development of a better theoretical traffic exam, using projected road images instead of sketched traffic situations on paper.

Eye and head movement equipment for traffic investigations
Eye and head movement equipment for traffic investigations

 

 

Sources
  • 75 jaar Human Factors: Past, Present and Future (2024)
  • TlC: a new method to describe driving performance (1983), Godthelp, J. Milgram, P. & Blaauw, G.J., Soesterberg, Institute for Perception TNO, IZF-1983-10