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Rear-end crashes account for more than one in five fatal crashes in the U.S. The rear-end crash scenario most commonly associated with fatal crashes involves a following vehicle traveling 40 to 70 mph closing on a lead vehicle at a rate greater than 30 mph. The current research compiled an analysis of the literature to identify the kinematic factors, environmental factors, traffic-related factors and individual differences that are likely to influence drivers’ responses when closing on a slower-moving or stopped lead vehicle [LV]. In Part 1, several primarily kinematic-based methods for modeling drivers’ responses to a LV were compared for high-speed closing events. Methods utilizing looming (angular growth rate) equations were shown to predict drivers’ responses and time-to-contact methods (Inverse Tau) were conditionally accurate when applied to specific crash scenarios. However, the ratio or nominal response time methods did not predict drivers’ responses in most crash scenarios.

Collision statistics show that more than half of all pedestrian fatalities caused by vehicles occur at night. The recognition of objects at night is a crucial component in driver responses and in preventing nighttime pedestrian accidents. To investigate the root cause of this fact pattern, Richard Blackwell conducted a series of experiments in the 1950s through 1970s to evaluate whether restricted viewing time can be used as a surrogate for the imperfect information available to drivers at night. The authors build on these findings and incorporate the responses of drivers to objects in the road at night found in the SHRP-2 naturalistic database. A closed road outdoor study and an indoor study were conducted using an automatic shutter system to limit observation time to approximately ¼ of a second. Results from these limited exposure time studies showed a positive correlation to naturalistic responses, providing a validation of the time-limited exposure technique.

Controlled studies identified several factors that influence drivers' swerving when responding to in an emergency situation. Specifically, driver age, time-to-contact, amplitude of the steering action (steer within lane or swerving into the next lane), distraction, fatigue, natural lighting and available buffer space were identified as factors that influence steering behaviors. The goal of the current research was to identify the extent to which each factor changed swerving performances of drivers who were faced with a crash or near crash. Results from crashes and near crashes were obtained from the InSight (SHRP-2) naturalistic driving study. The results from the controlled studies and the results from the naturalistic driving research were consistent in many ways. Drivers engaged in a visual-manual secondary task were much younger than were the drivers who had no distracting secondary task.