Strategy-Based Driving Behaviour on Freeways: Findings of Test-Drive and On-Line Survey Study

Freeways form an important part of the road network. Drivers’ behavior can be split in longitudinal (acceleration and deceleration) and lateral behavior (lane changing). The combination of these two behaviors on freeways play a key role in traffic operations. This paper tries to describe the driving behavior, emphasizing the relation between the lateral and longitudinal behavior. To this end, an experimental study based on a test-drive and on-line questionnaire has been carried out. For the test-drive, 34 participants drove a vehicle equipped with monitoring systems. Based on the test drives a survey was developed regarding driving behavior in specific situations. This survey was answered by 1258 drivers who were questioned using videos for specific and relevant situations. The results show that most people choose a speed first, and stick to that. Fewer people adapt a strategy of having a desired speed which might change when they are in a different lane to overtake, or a strategy to choose a desired lane, and tries to adapt speed. A small fraction of the respondents mentioned that they have neither a desired speed or a desired lane. Most people (80%) use the right lane if possible, and 80% will not overtake at the right. 70% may have a courtesy behavior when needed. The outcome of this study has shed some light on the naturalistic driving behavior on freeways under different situations. The findings of this work can be implemented in traffic simulation programs, which are able to delay with this scale of traffic behavior. Repeating this survey in international context will reveal differences between drivers in various countries.