Driver’s Reaction Time in the Context of an Accident in Road Traffic

Marek Guzek

Abstract

Road accidents are everyday in road traffic. The driver can influence the possibility of avoiding an accident in emerging situations. The basic defensive manoeuvre made by drivers in an emergency situation is braking before an obstacle, and one of the most important factors shaping the vehicle stopping distance, and consequently the possibility of collision and its potential effects at a given vehicle speed is the driver’s reaction time. The article presents selected results of the assessment of the reaction time of a group of drivers during tests in the driving simulator and on the test track during the actual driving. Based on these results, using the Monte-Carlo method and using the braking model known from the basics of car motion mechanics, calculations of the stopping distance were made and were determined collision probability characteristics depending on vehicle speed and distance from the obstacle. Such characteristics, apart from the cognitive aspect, can also be used in practice, e.g. by court experts, who in cases involving road accidents often have to answer the court’s question about the possibility of avoiding collisions.