Abstract
While the interest of the transport research community and automotive industry is increasingly turning towards developments and improvements in the field of autonomous vehicles, there is a need for a better understanding of the end users’ preferences regarding perceived passenger comfort, in order to improve acceptance and intention to use. The present study is based on a driving simulator experiment conducted at the University of Leeds Driving Simulator and approaches the issue of comfort via observed speed choice behaviour. Participants drove a series of driving simulator scenarios composed of road segments of different road type, road geometry, risk level at the road edge, and oncoming traffic. They also completed a series of self-report questionnaires, including Arnett's Inventory of Sensation-seeking. A set of models was developed in order to investigate the effects of road environment and sensation-seeking on speed behaviour. The initial model only considered explanatory variables related to the road environment and accounted for individual unobserved heterogeneity. Past behaviour, serial correlation and heterogeneity in road environment were then introduced in the model specification. The autoregressive disturbance term that accounted for serial correlation was also applied in the form of a random variable and significantly improved model fit. Finally, sensation-seeking was incorporated in the model as a latent variable. The results showed a significant impact of most of the road elements as road type, curvature, risk type at the road edge on observed behaviour, implying a future need for the development of autonomous vehicle controllers that adapt their performance based on the road environment. Moreover, sensation-seeking had a significant and positive effect on speed, which indicates a potential future demand for personalised controllers to meet the users’ individual preferences.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 100133 |
Journal | Analytic Methods in Accident Research |
Volume | 28 |
Early online date | 03 Aug 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Dec 2020 |
Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The research presented in this paper was undertaken in connection with the HumanDrive project, which is co-funded by Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency. The paper was submitted with the permission of the HumanDrive consortium: Nissan, Hitachi, Horiba MIRA, Atkins Ltd, Aimsun Ltd, SBD Automotive, University of Leeds, Highways England, Cranfield University and the Connected Places Catapult. The study was approved by the University of Leeds Ethics Committee (reference no. LTTRAN-086). None.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Driving simulator
- Latent variable
- Perceived comfort
- Random autoregressive disturbance
- Sensation-seeking
- Speed choice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Transportation
- Safety Research