Car driving behaviour on road curves: a case study in Universiti Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) predicted that in 2020, road accidents will become the third cause of deaths in the world. Several factors contribute to road accidents, among them are human error, speeding, irregularities in road design and period of driving (either nighttime or daytime). In road design, horizontal curves are of particular interest to the designer, given that accidents are very likely to occur at such locations if drivers lose control of their vehicles due to inappropriate speed choices. This study was conducted to investigate the variation of driving behaviour on horizontal curves. The test car was fitted with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and driven by 30 participants. The research findings show that drivers’ choice of speed varies while approaching horizontal curve, on the curve and just after leaving the curve. Apart from this, although drivers were found to have driven at a slightly higher speed during daytime compare to evening driving, however the difference was not significant. A comparison between genders also revealed that female and male drivers drive at similar speed behaviour.