CH-3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DRIVER, THE

PEDESTRIAN, THE VEHICLE, AND THE ROAD

•The are four main components of the
highway mode of transportation are
 the driver,
the pedestrian,

the vehicle, and

 the road.

•The bicycle is also becoming an

important component in the design of
urban highways and streets.
•The success of transpiration depend
on the coordination, of the elements
 1 Driver Characteristics
Human are active component of traffic
system
And their Components are highly
variable and unpredictable in
capabilities and characteristics.
Generally human factors covered by
I. Psychological–Much more difficult
to measure and quantify
II. Physiological–Measurable and
Usually Quantifiable
 Con…
Psychological:

 Desired speeds
 Desired safety distance
o Physiological:
Perception-Reaction time
Visual factors
 The Human Response process
evaluation of the reaction to the stimuli
that they see or hear
Reaction is of visual perception as well
as of hearing perception
A. Visual perception: The principal
characteristics of the eye are visual
acuity/ sharpness/, peripheral vision,
color vision, glare vision and recovery,
and depth perception
 CON,
 Visual Reception
The principal characteristics of the eye are visual
acuity, peripheral vision, color vision, glare
vision and recovery, and depth perception.
 Visual Acuity:

 is the ability to see fine details of an object.

 It can be represented by the visual angle, which is

the reciprocal of the smallest pattern detail in
minutes of arc that can be resolved and given as

where
L = diameter of the target (letter or symbol)
D = distance from the eye to target in the same units as L
 CON,
 Two types of visual acuity are of importance in traffic
and highway emergencies: static and dynamic
visual acuity.
 Static visual acuity:- The driver’s ability to identify
an object when both the object and the driver are
stationary.
 Factors that affect static acuity include background
brightness, contrast & time.
 dynamic visual acuity :-The driver’s ability to
clearly detect relatively moving objects, not
necessarily in his or her direct line of vision, depends
on the driver’s dynamic visual acuity.
 Most people have clear vision within a conical angle of
3 to 5° & fairly clear vision within a conical angle of 10
to 12 ͦ.
 Peripheral Vision: is the ability of people to see
objects beyond the cone of clearest vision.
 CON,
 Color Vision: is the ability to differentiate one color from
another.
 Glare Vision and Recovery: There are two types of glare
vision: direct and specular.
direct glare occurs when relatively bright light appears in
the individual’s field of vision &
specular glare occurs when the image reflected by the
relatively bright light appears in the field of vision
 Depth Perception: is affects the ability of a person to
estimate speed and distance. It is particularly important on
two-lane highways during passing maneuvers,

Hearing Perception
The ear receives sound stimuli, which is important to drivers
only when warning sounds, usually given out by emergency
vehicles, are to be detected.
 Perception-Reaction Process
 The process through which a driver, cyclist, or pedestrian evaluates and reacts to
a stimulus can be divided into four sub processes:
 Perception: the driver sees a control device, warning sign, or object on the road.
 Identification: the driver identifies the object or control device and thus under-
stands the stimulus.
 Emotion: the driver decides what action to take in response to the stimulus; for
example, to step on the brake pedal, to pass, to change lanes
 Reaction or volition: the driver actually executes the action
decided on during the emotion sub-process.
 Time elapses during each of these sub processes. The time that
elapses from the start of perception to the end of reaction is the total
time required for perception, identification, emotion, and volition,
sometimes referred to as PIEV time or as perception-reaction
time.
 Perception-reaction time is an important factor in the determination
of braking distances
 American Association of State Highway and Transportation
Officials (AASHTO) Recommendations 2.5 seconds for stopping-
sight distances
 CON,
Example :

A driver with perception/reaction

time of 2.5 seconds is driving at 60
km/h when he observes an
accident has blocked the road.
How far would the vehicle travel,
in meter, before being able to
apply the brakes
 Solution: Find the distance traveled:
 Convert km/h to m/sec: 60km/hr =60X0.27778 = 16.67m/s

Find the distance traveled:

d = v t= 16.67x2.5= 41.67m
 2. Pedestrian Characteristics
 These are influence the design and location of pedestrian
control devices( pedestrian signals, safety zones and
islands at intersections, pedestrian underpasses,
elevated walkways & crosswalks). For example, the
design of an all-red phase, which permits pedestrians to
cross an intersection with heavy traffic, requires
knowledge of the walking speeds of pedestrians.
 Observations of pedestrian movements have indicated
that walking speeds vary between 3.0 and 8.0 ft /sec.
 Significant differences have also been observed between
male and female walking speeds. At intersections, the
mean male walking speed has been determined to be
4.93 ft /sec, & for females, 4.63 ft /sec. A more
conservative value of 4.0 ft /sec is normally used for
design purposes.
 3. Bicyclists and Bicycle Characteristics
 Three classes of bicyclists (A, B and C) have been
identified in the AASHTO.
1. Experienced or advanced bicyclists are within class A,
consider the bicycle as a motor vehicle and can comfortably
ride in traffic.
2. less experienced bicyclists are within class B, prefer to
ride on neighborhood streets and are more comfortable on
designated bicycle facilities, such as bicycle paths. and
3. children riding on their own or with parents are
classified as C:use mainly residential streets that provide
access to schools, recreational facilities, and stores
 In designing urban roads and streets, it is useful to
consider the feasibility of incorporating bicycle facilities
that will accommodate class B and class C bicyclists.
 4. VEHICLE CHARACTERISTICS
 Criteria for the geometric design of highways are partly
based on the static, kinematic, and dynamic
characteristics of vehicles.
 Static characteristics include the weight & size of the
vehicle.
 kinematic characteristics involve the motion of the
vehicle without considering the forces that cause the
motion.
 Dynamic characteristics involve the forces that cause the
motion of the vehicle.
 A. Static Characteristics
 The size of the design vehicle for a
highway is an important factor in the
determination of design standards for
several physical components of the
highway. These include lane width,
shoulder width, length and width of
parking bays, and lengths of vertical
curves.
 The axle weights of the vehicles expected
on the highway are important when
pavement depths and maximum
grades are being determined.
 CON,

•80,000 lb gross weight, with axle loads of up to 20,000 lb

for single axles & 34,000 lb for tandem (double) axles
•102 in. width for all trucks
•48 ft length for semitrailers and trailers
•28 ft length for each twin trailer
 CON,
 The federal regulations stipulate that the overall maximum
gross weight for a group of two or more consecutive axles
should be determined By :

where
W = overall gross weight (calculated to the nearest 500 lb)
L = the extreme of any group of two or more consecutive
axles (ft)
N = number of axles in the group under consideration
 CON,
 AASHTO also has suggested the following guidelines for
selecting a design vehicle:
 For a parking lot or series of parking lots, a passenger car may be
used
 For intersections on residential streets and park roads, a single-unit
truck could be considered
 For the design of intersections of state highways and city streets that
serve bus traffic but with relatively few large trucks, a city transit
bus may be used
 For the design of intersections of highways with low-volume county
and township/ local roads with Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT,
see Chapter 4 for definition) of 400 or less, a large school bus with a
capacity of 84 passengers or a conventional bus with a capacity of 65
passengers may be used
 the minimum turning radius for the selected design vehicle
traveling at a speed of 10 mph should be provided. Minimum
turning radii at low speeds (10 mi/h or less) are dependent mainly
on the size of the vehicle.
 2. Kinematic Characteristics
 The primary element among kinematic characteristics is
the acceleration capability of the vehicle.
 Acceleration capability is important in several traffic
operations, such as passing maneuvers and gap
acceptance, dimensioning of highway features
such as freeway ramps and passing lanes is often
governed by acceleration rates.
 this section the mathematical relationships among
acceleration, velocity, distance, &time
 3. DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
 Several forces act on a vehicle while it is in motion:
 air resistance,
 grade resistance,
 rolling resistance, and
 curve resistance.
 The extents to which these forces affect the operation of the
vehicle are discussed in this section.
 Air Resistance
 A vehicle in motion has to overcome the resistance of the
air in front of it as well as the force due to the frictional
action of the air around it. The force required to over-come
these is known as the air resistance and is related to
the cross-sectional area of the vehicle in a direction
perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the
square of the speed of the vehicle. Claffey has shown
that this force can be estimated from the formula
 Grade Resistance
When a vehicle moves up a grade, a component of
the weight of the vehicle acts down-ward, along the
plane of the highway. This creates force acting in a
direction opposite that of the motion. This force is
the grade resistance.
Note: grade resistance = weight * grade, in decimal.
Rolling Resistance
 The forces offer resistance to motion of the vehicle. These forces
are due to frictional effect on moving parts of the
vehicle(frictional slip between the pavement surface & the tires).
 The rolling resistance depends on the speed of the vehicle and the
type of pavement.
 Rolling forces are relatively lower on smooth pavements than on
rough pavements.
 The rolling resistance force for passenger cars on a smooth
pavement can be determined By

where
R = rolling resistance force (lb), Crs = constant (typically 0.012 for passenger cars)
Crv = constant (typically 0.65 * 10-6sec2/ft2 for passenger cars),
u = vehicle speed (mi/h)
W = gross vehicle weight (lb)
Curve Resistance
When a passenger car is maneuvered to take a curve,
external forces act on the front wheels of the vehicle that
have a retarding effect on the forward motion of the
vehicle is curve resistance.
This resistance depends on the radius of the curve, the
gross weight of the vehicle, and the velocity at which
the vehicle is moving. It can be determined as

where
R = radius of curvature (ft), g = acceleration of gravity (32.2
ft/ sec2), W =gross vehicle weight (lb) u= vehicle speed (mi/
h), Rc = curve resistance (lb)
 POWER REQUIREMENTS
Power is the rate at which work is done. It is usually
expressed in horsepower, where 1 horsepower is 550 lb-ft
/sec.
The performance capability of a vehicle is measured in
terms of the horsepower the engine can produce to
overcome air, grade, curve, & friction resistance forces and
put the vehicle in motion. The power delivered by the
engine is

where
u = speed of vehicle in mi/ hr), R = sum of resistance to
motion ( lb), P = horsepower delivered (hp)
 BRAKING DISTANCE
 The action of the forces on the moving vehicle &
 the effect of perception-reaction time are used to
determine important parameters related to the dynamic
characteristics of the vehicles.
 These include the braking distance of a vehicle & the
minimum radius of a circular curve required for a vehicle
traveling around a curve with speed u where u=16
k/h(10mi/hr). Governed by size of vehicle.
 The relationships among elements, such as the
acceleration, the coefficient of friction between the
tire and the pavement, the distance above ground of
the center of gravity of the vehicle, and the track
width of the vehicle, could be developed by analyzing
the action of these forces
Braking: Consider a vehicle traveling downhill with an
initial velocity of u, in mi/h
Let
Db = horizontal component of distance traveled during braking (that
is, from time brakes are applied to time the vehicle comes to rest)
a = deceleration of the vehicle when the brakes are applied,
ɤ = angle between the grade and the horizontal,
f = coefficient of friction between the tires and the road pavement,
W = weight of the vehicle
 CON,
 Frictional force on the vehicle = f*W*cosγ
 The force acting on the vehicle due to deceleration is
W*a/g, where g is acceleration due to gravity. The
component of the weight of the vehicle is W sin g,
substituting into,

 The deceleration that brings the vehicle to a stationary

position can be found in terms of the initial velocity u as
a =-u2/2x (assuming uniform deceleration), where x is the
distance traveled in the plane of the grade during
braking.
 CON,
 However, Db = x cosɤ , and we therefore obtain

Note, tan ɤ is the grade G of the incline (that is, percent of grade
/100).

AASHTO

Where uphill is positive and downhill is negative. Here the plus

sign is for vehicles traveling uphill, the minus sign is for
vehicles traveling downhill, and G is the absolute value of tanɤ
.
 MINIMUM RADIUS OF A CIRCULAR CURVE
 When a vehicle is moving around a circular curve, there is inward radial
force acting on the vehicle, usually referred to as the centrifugal force.
There is also an out ward radial force acting toward the center of
curvature as a result of the centripetal acceleration.
 In order to balance the effect of the centripetal acceleration, the road is
inclined toward the center of the curve. The inclination of the roadway
toward the center of the curve is known as super elevation.
 The centripetal acceleration depends on the component of the vehicle’s
weight along the inclined surface of the road and the side friction
between the tires and the roadway.
 The minimum radius of a circular curve R for a vehicle traveling at u
mi/h can be determined by considering the equilibrium of the vehicle with
respect to its moving up or down the incline. If α is the angle of
inclination of the highway, the component of the weight down the incline
is W sin α, and the frictional force also acting down the incline is . The
centrifugal force Fc is:

Where
g = acceleration of gravity, W = weight of the vehicle, ac =acceleration for
curvilinear motion = u2/ R(R = radius of the curve)
CON,
 The minimum radius R is given in feet as

Where
e= the rate of super elevation
fs = coefficient of side friction
u = Design Speed of vehicle in mi/hr
CON,
Example: An existing horizontal curve on a highway
has a radius of 465 ft, which restricts the posted speed
limit on this section of the road to only 61.5% of the
design speed of the highway. If the curve is to be
improved so that its posted speed will be the design
speed of the highway, determine the minimum radius
of the new curve. Assume that the rate of super
elevation is 0.08 for both the existing curve and the
new curve to be designed. assume fs is 0.16
 4. Road characteristics
 The characteristics of the highway discussed in this section are
related to stopping and passing because these have a more direct
relationship to the characteristics of the driver and the vehicle.
 Sight Distance
 is the length of the roadway a driver can see ahead at any
particular time.
 There are two types of sight distance are
(1) stopping sight distance and
(2) passing sight distance.
 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) taken as the minimum sight
distance required for a driver to stop a vehicle after seeing an
object in the vehicle’s path without hitting that object. This
distance is the sum of the distance traveled during perception-
reaction time and the distance traveled during braking. The SSD
for a vehicle traveling at u mi/h is therefore the same as the
stopping distance given
 con..
Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) taken as the
minimum sight distance required for a driver to stop
a vehicle after seeing an object in the vehicle’s path
without hitting that object. This distance is the sum
of the distance traveled during perception-reaction
time and the distance traveled during braking. The
SSD for a vehicle traveling at u mi/h is therefore the
same as the stopping distance given

 Ds = SSD in meter
 Vi=speed before braking (km/hr)
 f= coefficient of longitudinal friction
 G=grade expressed in decimals (+ for upgrade and - for
downgrade)
Passing Sight Distance
• is the minimum sight distance required on a two-lane, two-
way highway that will permit a driver to complete a passing
maneuver without colliding with an opposing vehicle and
without cutting off the passed vehicle.
•In determining minimum passing sight distances for design
purposes, only single passes (that is, a single vehicle passing a
single vehicle) are considered.
 ERA(Ethiopian Road Authority) defines, the passing sight distance can
be divided into four quantifiable portions:
d1=initial maneuver distance, including a time for perception
and reaction.
d2=the length of roadway that is traversed by the passing
vehicle while it occupies the left lane
d3=the clearance distance between the passing vehicle and the
opposing vehicle when the passing vehicle returns to the right
lane.d4=the distance that the opposing vehicle travels during
the final 2/3 of the period when the passing vehicle is in the
left lane
 CON,
 d3:
The clearance distance might not seem necessary
at first, but for now let’s take it on faith that an
opposing vehicle is necessary.

Speed Group 50-65 66-80 81-100 101-120

(km/h)
d3 (m) 30 55 80 100

 d4:
The distance traversed by the opposing vehicle
seems to be the most troubling which is
approximately equal to d2 or less the portion of d2
whereby the passing vehicle is entering the left
lane, estimated at:
Thank