Modelling cyclists’ comfort zones from obstacle avoidance manoeuvres
Journal article, 2020

This paper introduces a framework for modelling the cyclist’s comfort zone. Unlike the driver’s comfort zone, little is known about the cyclist’s. The framework draws on existing literature in cognitive science about driver behaviour to explain experimental results from cycling field trials, and the modelling of these results. We modelled braking and steering manoeuvres from field data of cyclists’ obstacle avoidance within their comfort zone. Results show that when cyclists avoided obstacles by braking, they kept a constant deceleration; as speed increased, they started to brake earlier, farther from the obstacle, maintaining an almost constant time to collision. When cyclists avoided obstacles by steering, they maintained a constant distance from the object, independent of speed. Overall, the higher the speed, the more the steering manoeuvres were temporally delayed compared to braking manoeuvres. We discuss these results and other similarities between cyclist and driver behaviour during obstacle avoidance. Implications for the design of acceptable active safety and infrastructure design are also addressed.

cyclist comfort zone

cyclist interaction

cycling safety

threat avoidance

cycling behaviour

Author

Oliver Lee

Delft University of Technology

Alexander Rasch

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Vehicle Safety

Arend Schwab

Delft University of Technology

Marco Dozza

Chalmers, Mechanics and Maritime Sciences (M2), Vehicle Safety

Accident Analysis and Prevention

0001-4575 (ISSN)

Vol. 144 105609

BikeModel: Modeller för cyklistbeteende

Swedish Transport Administration (2015/15255), 2015-06-01 -- 2015-12-31.

Cyklistkomfortgränser: forskningsöversikt och experimentell ram

Swedish Transport Administration (2017/22107), 2017-06-01 -- 2018-06-30.

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Areas of Advance

Transport

Subject Categories

Philosophy

Transport Systems and Logistics

Environmental Health and Occupational Health

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2020.105609

More information

Latest update

12/21/2021