Study on the influence of driving distraction on traffic flow considering the stochastic duration time of distraction
Abstract
This paper aims to study the traffic flow characteristics considering drivers’ distraction behavior, which is common and lasts for stochastic duration time. The distribution of distraction duration time and the influence of distraction on traffic flow are analyzed. The relationship among distraction duration time, probability of distraction occurrence and proportion of distraction is established by stochastic model. Then a modified optimal velocity model was proposed to simulate a two-lane road, taking the effect of distraction behavior into account. A survey was conducted to collect maximum speed, average speed, lane change frequency and headway of vehicle when distracted. The results suggest that distraction behavior has significant negative influence on traffic flow rate and increases the lane changing frequency. Short-time distraction seems to have smaller impact on traffic flow than long-time distraction. This model simulates the distraction behavior very well and distracted drivers have lower mean speed, lower lane changing frequency, longer headway and are overtaken by more vehicles in simulation. This study provided a good model to analyze distraction behavior in traffic flow and pointed out an important factor affecting the traffic flow efficiency.
