Analysis of weaving maneuver’s critical issues using a driving simulator

It is well known that the weaving maneuver is one of the most difficult maneuvers to analyze in terms of road safety. Weaving sections provide a transition for vehicles from the right lane to the left lane and from the left lane to the right lane; in order to allow drivers to enter a road stretch or to exit out of it. Interchange segments are the most likely area where road accidents occur because of the complexity of the weaving maneuver. The complexity of this operation depends on drivers’ behavior and risk perception associated with the different phases that compose the maneuver: the intensity changing lanes, and braking and accelerating behaviors of a driver under different traffic flow conditions. Using an interactive driving simulator, this study proposes an analysis of drivers’ behavior on different weaving lanes in various traffic conditions. Three different lengths of weaving lane combined with four different traffic flow conditions were simulated and the different drivers’ performances have been analyzed. The objective of the research is to evaluate reliable indicators able to verify weaving maneuver's safety standards, in order to achieve more efficient design criteria. Several findings have shown that a driving simulator can ensure the reliability of measures and, it can also show the relationships between road geometrical characteristics and drivers’ behavior.