CIV5404 – Highway & Transportation Engineering – 2019/2020 Session

CHAPTER TWO

VEHICLE AND DRIVER CHARACTERISTICS

2.1 Introduction
There are three basic elements associated with road transportation. These are;
the vehicle, driver (road user, pedestrians inclusive), and the roadway. Their
characteristics affect the performance of road transportation system. Hence, a
transportation engineer is expected to have a good understanding about them,
particularly with regard to provision of effective designs for highway and traffic
control facilities. The following sections discuss the vehicle and driver characteristics
as they affect the design and operation of highway facilities.

2.2 Vehicle Characteristics

By vehicle characteristics is meant the operation, performance and the physical
features of the vehicle on a highway, and the manner in which they affect the design
and safe operation of the highway and traffic facilities.

Although the vehicle has less variable characteristics than the driver, their
features are usually controlled within defined limits by legislation by way of imposing
limits on overall performance, weight and size, as well as by specifying minimum
requirements for individual items of equipment such as brakes, lighting, and
indicators. In order for the traffic engineer to adequately plan and design facilities and
recommend laws for the control and regulation of vehicles’ movement on the
highway, he must have a good knowledge of their physical characteristics and
performance limitations as well.

The effect of these vehicle operating characteristics on the decisions of the

traffic engineer will be discussed under the following sub-headings:

2.2.1 Resistance to Motion and Power Requirements

In order for a vehicle to remain in motion on a level road (or along segment
with different geometric features), the following forces or resistances need to be
overcome; rolling, air, grade, curve, inertia and mechanical friction resistances. The
sum of all these resistances is the value of the tractive resistance or total resistance to
traction.

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2.2.1.1 Rolling Resistance

This is a form of resistance developed as a result of frictional slip between a
vehicle’s tyre and pavement surface, flexing or bending of tyre at the surface of
contact, rolling over rough particles (i.e. stones, or broken pavement mix particles),
pushing wheels through sand, mud, and internal friction at wheel, and axle. This
resistance increases with speed and roughness of road surfaces and decreases with
high tyre inflation pressures. For a given speed, the value increases for the type of
roadway materials in the following order; badly broken and patched asphalt; dry, well
packed gravel; and loose sand.

2.2.1.2 Air Resistance:

Air resistance is composed of the effect of air (since air has weight) in the
vehicle pathways, the frictional force of air passing over the surfaces of the vehicle
(including the underside), and the partial vacuum behind the vehicle.

Air resistance varies approximately in proportion to the square of the velocity

of the vehicle. Under standard air condition, the resistance is given by Equation 2.1.

 AV 2
Ra = Cd ( ) (kg) (2.1)
2g
Where,
Cd = dimensionless drag coefficient determined for body shape (0.25 for sport
cars, 0.45 for saloon cars, 0.80 for trucks)
A = projected body area in direction of travel (m2)
 = density of air (kg/m3)
V = speed of vehicle (m/s)
g = acceleration due to gravity (m/s2)

The relationship can be rewritten as Ra = KAV 2 . A typical equation for a saloon car is

Ra = 0.0022AV2, where V is measured in kilometres per hour. The coefficient K for a

sport car is about 0.0009.

2.2.1.3 Grade Resistance

This is the force acting on a vehicle when on an incline section of a road. It is
equals to the component of vehicle weight acting down the grade. It acts as a retarding

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force only when vehicles are moving upgrade. It is an accelerating force for a vehicle
moving downgrade. It acts only as an inertia resistance when speed increases are
involved on an uphill grade. Grade resistance is expressed as in Equation 2.2.

Rg = wsin (2.2)

Where,
w = Component of the vehicle’s gross weight acting down the grade
α = Inclination angle of the grade

Increasing the grades results in the increase in the resistance to be overcome by

tractive effort and adds to vehicle operating costs in other ways. The highway engineer
must, therefore, keeps gradients as mild as possible in order to minimize the effect
grade, especially on heavy vehicles. Limits for grades are usually set depending on the
type of terrain. The limiting grade in highways is that which is so steep that it reduces
vehicle speed and thereby limits the number of vehicles (reduction in roadway
capacity) that can traverse the grade in a given time. Congestion usually begins to
develop (especially, on a busy highway segment) when speeds drop below the
minimum acceptable level. The solution is to provide mild grades or add climbing
lanes or passing bays to the roadway width on a long slow climbs to permit faster
moving passenger cars and other light vehicles with a lower weight/horse power ratio
to continue without appreciable reduction in speed.

2.2.1.4 Curve Resistance

Curve resistance is the force acting through the front wheels contact with the
pavement surface, needed to deflect a vehicle along curvilinear path. This force
increases with speed; as the faster a vehicle moves the more difficult it is to change its
direction. Typical values of curve resistance of standard or intermediate type of
passenger cars operating on high type asphalt pavement as in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Curve Resistance of Passenger Cars on High-Type Road Surface

Curvature Speed Resistance
Degree Radius (m) (mph) (kg)
5 325 50 18
5 325 60 36
10 162 30 18
10 162 40 54
10 162 50 108

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2.2.1.5 Inertia Resistance

Inertia resistance is the force to be overcome in order to increase speed. It is a
function of vehicle weight (regardless of type of vehicle) and the rate of acceleration.
Initially, a force is required to overcome inertia during acceleration to the required
speed and during motion; the inertia affects the rotating parts. It can be computed
using Equation 2.3.

Ri = 28wa (kg) (2.3)

Where,
w = gross weight of vehicle (tonnes)
a = acceleration rate (kph/sec.)

Figure 2.1 shows the combination of forces acting on a moving vehicle. For
the vehicle to remain in continuous motion, the tractive force delivered from the
engine must be greater than the sum of all the resistances.

Figure 2.1: Forces Acting on a Moving Vehicle

2.2.2 Acceleration Performance

The acceleration capabilities of vehicles are very useful information in the
design and operation of highway and traffic facilities. The highway engineer uses such
information to evaluate minimum passing sight distance requirements, and for the
determination of minimum lengths of acceleration lanes at stop sign and interchanges.

The acceleration capacity of vehicle is dependent on its mass, the resistance to

motion and available power. In general, the acceleration rates are highest at low
speeds, decreases as speed increases. Heavier vehicles have lower rates of acceleration
than passenger cars. The difference in acceleration rates becomes significant in mixed

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traffic streams. For example, heavy vehicles like trucks will delay a lot of motorists at
an intersection. This is also the same along links (straight sections) of a highway.
Again, the gaps formed can be occupied by other smaller vehicles only if they are
given the opportunity to pass. The presence of upgrades makes the problem more
severe. Trucks are forced to decelerate on grades because their power is not sufficient
to maintain their desired speed. As trucks slow down on grades, long gaps will be
formed in the traffic stream which cannot be efficiently filled by normal passing
manoeuvres.

For two-lane, two-way roadways, minimum passing sight distances are

function of maximum acceleration rates. This follows from the fact that the more
quickly vehicles can accelerate to overtake, the shorter the length of road traversed in
overtaking, and hence the shorter the overtaking or passing sight distance. In highway
design, minimum values of overtaking or passing sight distances are usually obtained
from recommendations in standard design manuals.

2.2.3. Deceleration Performance

Deceleration rates are of use to the highway engineer in the determination of
the minimum stopping sight distance on a roadway. Deceleration of vehicles occurs
automatically when the accelerator pedal is released, because of the retarding effect of
the resistance to motion, including engine compression forces. For controlled
deceleration and maximum rates of deceleration, however, brakes are used to restrain
the vehicle’s movement.

The relationship between the minimum stopping sight distance and the
variables upon which it depends is given by Equation 2.4.
V2
SSD = PV +
2 g ( f  i) (2.4)
Where,
SSD = minimum stopping sight distance (m)
P = perception reaction time (sec.)
V = vehicle’s running speed (kph)
f = coefficient of friction between pavement and tyre surfaces
i = roadway gradient (%)

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2.2.4 Vehicle Dimensions and Weight

Information on the various dimensions and weight of vehicles and current
trends in these variables are needed by the traffic engineer for the planning of road
geometrics and parking lot layouts. The vehicular dimensions which can affect the
road and traffic design are mainly; width, height, length, rear overhang, and ground
clearance.

The width of vehicle affects the width of lanes, shoulders and parking facility.
The capacity of the road will also decrease if the width exceeds the design values. The
height of the vehicle affects the clearance height of structures like under-pass
structures, tunnels, electric and other utility lines, and also placing of signs and
signals. Another important factor is the length of the vehicle which affects the extra
width of pavement, minimum turning radius, safe overtaking distance, capacity and
the parking facility. The rear overhang control is mainly important when the vehicle
takes a right/left turn from a stationary point.

The weight of the vehicle is a major consideration during the design of

pavement design for both flexible and rigid. The weight of the vehicle is transferred
to the pavement through the axles; hence, the design parameters are fixed on the basis
of the number of axles.

2.2.5 Braking and Skid Resistance

A knowledge of the manner in which friction is developed between tyre and
roadway surfaces and the magnitude of such friction is required by the traffic engineer
in determining the braking force and the available resistance to skidding on a road
surface. Under normal circumstances, a vehicle skids on a road surface when the
limiting friction between tyres and road surfaces is exceeded. Common causes of this
phenomenon of skidding are polished pavement aggregates, oil spillage, surface
bleeding of bitumen (from asphalt surfacing), and wet road surface condition.

2.2.6 Visibility
For safe driving, it is necessary that the body of a vehicle does not block or
obstruct the view of the driver, especially at or close to junctions with or without
signalization. In order to overtake without causing any accident, rear view mirrors are
provided in front of the driver inside the vehicle and at the sides of the vehicle to

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enable the driver to see vehicles behind. Vehicles seats are usually fitted with adjusters
for varying the horizontal position while adjusters are also provided for reclining the
back rests in order to maintain a proper eye position for a wide visual field.

As far as forward visibility is concerned, the dimensions of the vehicle, and

slope and curvature of wind screens, wind screen wipers, door pillars, etc should be
such that:

• Visibility is clear even in bad weather conditions such as rain, fog, and snow;
• It should not mask pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles;
• There is adequate visibility during intersection manoeuvres.

Equally important is the side and rear visibility when manoeuvring especially
at intersections when the driver adjusts his speed in order to merge or cross a traffic
stream. Rear vision efficiency can be achieved by properly positioning the internal or
external mirrors.

2.2.7 Lighting
For safe driving during night hours, lights are provided on vehicles as
headlights and taillights. Lights are also provided on the streets as street lights (mostly
in urban areas).

Vehicle lights serve two main purposes; (i) the provision of a clear view of the
vehicle to an external viewer viewing from any approach angle and without the
discomfort of glare to the viewer, (ii) the provision at all times of a clearly illuminated
field of view to the driver moving at operating speeds and under the prevailing road
conditions.

Inclement weather conditions may occur such as in the early mornings and late
nights during rainy and harmattan seasons, may negate the purpose for which lights
are provided. This usually is taken care of by the development of some specialized
lighting accessories purposely built for seeing through fogs.

For street lights to be effective, they should be closely spaced as to adequately

light the roadway such that driving may be carried out with parking lights only, in
order to reduce glare and save vehicle battery energy. In poorly light areas or areas
without street lights, it behoves that the road user to put on his headlights if accidents
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are to be avoided. The incidence of glare should also be guarded against by the
judicious use of the headlights at the upper beam and dipped (lower beam) conditions.

2.3 Driver Characteristics

In traffic operation, human beings perform different roles which make them
essential elements of the traffic. The physical, mental, and emotional characteristics of
human being as a driver affect his ability to operate a vehicle safely. It is therefore
essential for a traffic engineer to study their characteristics, behavior, and
shortcomings as road users.

Driver as an important traffic element is far more unpredictable than the other
elements of vehicle and roadway. In order to adequately accommodate the variability
of drivers’ characteristics in traffic designs and programmes (or traffic system
operations), their behaviour patterns and accident involvement factors are worth well
studying. Thus, the following subsections discuss drivers’ capabilities and limitations
in the use of roadway system and associated traffic facilities.

The most complex problem while dealing with human characteristics is its
variability. The human characteristics like ability to react to situations, vision and
hearing, and other factors vary among the individuals, and depends on age, fatigue,
nature of situations (or stimuli), presence of drugs/alcohol, etc. The influence of these
factors and the corresponding variability cannot be accounted when a facility is
designed. So, a standardized value is often used as the design value. The 85th
percentile value of different characteristics is taken as a standard. It represents a
characteristic that 85 per percent of the population can meet or exceed.

The aspect of driver’s characteristics having a bearing on traffic facilities are

broadly categorized into two; as physiological and psychological. The physiological
factors are sub classified into Visual Reception, Hearing Reception, and Vibration.
Under the psychological category, the driver’s perception-reaction process is the key
factor.

2.3.1 Visual Reception

Vision is one of the essential factors that affects most aspects of highway
facility design and safe operation. The human eye is the sensory organ that enables
one to see and evaluate the size, shape, and colour of objects as well as estimate the

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distances and speeds of the objects. The light rays from an object get refracted
through the eye lens and subsequently brought to focus on the retina. The image
formed on the retina is then transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve which
perceives the object.

The basic characteristics of visual sense (eye) are visual acuity, peripheral
vision, glare vision and recovery, colour vision, and depth perception.

2.3.1.1 Visual Acuity

This is the ability of a person to see fine details of an object. It is usually
represented by visual angle. The driver’s ability to clearly detect relatively a moving
object, not necessarily in the direct line of vision, depends on the driver’s dynamic
visual acuity. It has been established that most people have clear vision within a
conical angle of 3o to 5o and fairly clear vision within a conical angle of 10o to 12o.
Vision further than this range is commonly blurred. In other words, drivers can
clearly see objects (such as traffic devices) within the 12o cone; however, objects
beyond this cone will appear blurred.

2.3.1.2 Peripheral Vision

This is the ability of a person to see an object outside the cone of the clearest
vision. Even though object can be seen within this zone, however, the details and
colour may not be clear. The cone for the peripheral vision could be one subtending
an angle up to 160o. It should be noted that this angle is affected by the vehicle’s
speed. One other factor influencing peripheral vision is the driver’s age. For instance,
older drivers have reduced peripheral vision ability.

2.3.1.3 Glare Vision and Recovery

Glare is a situation which occurs when a relatively bright light appears within
an individual’s field of vision. It usually results in a decrease of visibility and causes
discomfort to the affected person’s eyes. Sensitivity to the effects of glare increases
with person’s age. Glare recovery is the time required by an individual to recover
from the effect of glare after passing a light source unto the person’s eyes. It was
discovered that the time is 6 or more seconds when moving from light to dark and
about 3 seconds when moving from dark to light.

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In order to reduce the discomfort to drivers, the effects of glare should be taken
into account in the design and installation of street lighting such that these effects
become negligible. Glare effects can be minimized by reducing the luminaire
brightness and increasing the background brightness within drivers’ field of view.
This can be achieved by increasing the heights of the mounting points and positioning
the lighting supports farther away from the roadway.

2.3.1.4 Colour Vision

Colour vision is the ability of an individual to distinguish one colour from
another. A deficiency in this ability is referred to as colour blindness. Even though this
deficiency may affect driver’s decision in ascertaining a particular colour, it is,
however, not regarded as significant defect in driving task as other means of
recognizing traffic control (information) devices (for instance, shape) can compensate
for that defect. It was discovered that combinations of black and white and black and
yellow have demonstrated to be those to which the eye is most sensitive.

2.3.1.5 Depth Perception

Depth perception is referred to as driver’s ability to estimate distance and
speed of vehicle from his/her position. To the driver moving at a particular speed, the
judgement of speeds of other vehicles is needed to facilitate various manoeuvres. It is
particularly important on two-lane highways during passing manoeuvres, when head-
on crashes may occur due to lack of proper judgement of distance and speed.

2.3.2 Hearing Reception

Hearing is an aid to the driver which can at times be very essential. The ear
receives sound stimulus, which is essential to the drivers for warning, mostly alerted
by emergency vehicles (ambulance, fire service vehicles, and their likes) to inform
other drivers to get out of their way.

2.3.3 Vibration
At times, information can be received by drivers through sense of touch or
feeling. For instance, road pavements have etching on the outside edge of the
shoulder to indicate to the driver that he/she is off the pavement surface. Likewise,
raised markers on road surface (such as bumps) are used to indicate that a driver is
required to reduce speed over a specified section of the roadway.

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2.3.4 Perception-Reaction Process

This simply refers to the process through which a driver evaluates and reacts to
a stimulus. In the course of driving task, a driver is subjected to a series of stimuli
both expected and unexpected. The time taken to perform an action in response to the
stimulus involves a series of stages as follows:

2.3.4.1 Perception
Perception is the process of perceiving the sensations received through the
sense organs, nerves and brains. It is actually the recognition that a stimulus on which
a reaction is required exists. An instance is as follows:

o Seeing a stimulus along with other perceived objects.

o Within the peripheral view, you noticed something coming out of a nearby
bush and perhaps to cross the road.

2.3.4.2 Intellection
This refers to the identification and understanding of stimulus.
o At this moment, the driver begins to explore options.
o You then recognized it is a dog attempting to cross the roadway ahead of you.
▪ Do you apply brake to stop in an attempt to avoid it?
▪ Do you swerve (deviate laterally) to avoid it?
▪ Do you speed up to avoid it?
2.3.4.3 Emotion
At this stage, the driver decides what action to take in response to the stimulus.

o You then decide that the best course of action is to swerve with the hope that
you can avoid the dog. For the same situation, another motorist could decide to
speed up to avoid the hazard.

2.3.4.4 Reaction (Volition)

The driver actually executes the action decided on during the emotion sub-
process.

o You swerve and fortunately enough you avoided the dog.

Another instance of perception-reaction-process is if a driver approaches an

intersection where the signal is red, the driver first sees the signal (perception), he
recognizes that it is a red/STOP signal (intellection), he then decides to stop (emotion)
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and finally applies the brake (volition). This sequence is called the PIEV time or
perception-reaction time.

2.4 Factors Affecting Driver’s Performance

Factors that modify the basic psychological characteristics of a driver are
either of a permanent or transient nature. The permanent ones include; age, injury and
other forms of long term sicknesses (e.g. stroke, epilepsy), all of which can result in
disabilities and other permanent deterioration (at times, never getting better as far as
orthodox medicine is concerned) and impairment. People so affected, with time can
adjust to the situation and accommodate their disability in the driving task. Even
though people can adjust and accommodate the permanent characteristics over time,
they do at times have some effect on them. For instance, few among the effects of
driver’s age are as follows:

• Old drivers:
o Could perceive something as a hazard but may not act quickly enough.
o Have difficulty in seeing, hearing, and reaction.
o Drive slower.

• Young drivers:
o Have ability to act quickly but do not have experience to identify things
as a hazard or decide what to do.
o Drive faster.

However, the transient psychological characteristics have more bearing on

drivers’ performance because of the difficulty (or in some cases impossibility) in
adjusting to the situations that arise in driving. The factors include fatigue, use of
alcohol or drugs, illness, weather, and posture.

2.4.1 Fatigue
This is referred to as the tiredness or weakness of human body or parts of it
caused by use. Fatigue and could be mental, physical or operational. The mental
fatigue is due to the over working of the brain before or while driving. Physical fatigue
can often be attributed to lack of sleep or rest; incorrect posture induced by cramped
conditions and impaired muscular movement, drowsiness brought on by overheated

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vehicles, recurring vibrations, glare and inability of the eye to accommodate different
levels of light. Operational fatigue is simply due to lack of driving skill.

Any of these forms of fatigue can cause mistakes and consequent loss of
vehicle control. Commonly, a fatigued driver is seen to perform the right action in the
wrong sequence. Little can be done about fatigue once driving. However, one can
avoid likely accidents by avoiding driving in this state.

2.4.2 Use of Alcohol and Drugs

These act as depressants on the central nervous system, hence, use of excessive
amount of these affect people and their reaction. Those that act as stimulants (cocaine,
heroin, etc) lead to erratic behaviour and cause loss of vehicle’s control. Some of the
specific effects of these include:
• Slows response time
• Increases risk taking
• Slows decision making
• Difficulties with peripheral vision
It is therefore advisable to avoid the use of such drugs, alcohol, and other
stimulants if one is ready to perform the driving task.

2.4.3 Illness
This causes disturbances in the normal emotional and physical state of the
person affected. These result in impaired performance. Persons so affected should see
a medical practitioner for treatment before performing the driving task.

2.4.4 Weather Conditions

Situations such as excessive heat from the sun, heavy rainfall, cold dry air in
the harmattan period, and foggy conditions, usually render driving uninteresting,
uncomfortable, inconvenient and difficult, especially on poorly maintained roads that
may not even have adequate traffic facilities. Vehicle designs incorporating
appropriate accessories may however take care of some of these adverse weather
conditions.

2.4.5 Posture
Different persons of different heights as well as different trunk/height ratios
will have different eye levels when seated in a vehicle as the drivers. Roads’ layouts
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and positioning of traffic devices should be such that a driver gets full view of these
facilities. For very short persons, cushions placed on the seats (with the seat shifted
forward) will enhance visibility by increasing the view angles in all directions as a
result of increased height of eye level.

2.5 Factors Affecting Driver’s Behaviour

Factors that affect the behaviour pattern or activity of drivers are motivation,
environmental influence, and education.

2.5.1 Motivation
This factor simply referred to as the trip purpose. A driver on a leisure trip
would certainly behave and drive differently (at low speed, carefully, and in a more
relaxed manner) from one who is travelling to beat time for an important event. For
safe and comfortable movement of persons and goods, the engineer must take into
consideration those characteristics induced by the different motives in the design and
planning of highway facilities.

2.5.2 Environmental Influence

This follows from the motivation factor. A driver just entering a traffic stream
sooner or later finds himself driving in the manner of the other drivers. However, there
are some other aspects of the environment which influence the driver’s behaviour. A
driver will obviously be at ease in a less noisy atmosphere as well as one free of other
atmospheric pollutants, such as the individual’s vehicle exhaust fumes from exhaust of
other vehicles on the road. Effective control of the types of vehicles that are fit to ply
the roads will guard against these undesirable effects.

2.5.3 Education or Awareness on the Use of Traffic Facilities

It is obvious that one acquires knowledge through education. Lack of
knowledge on the use of traffic facilities have often led to serious hazards on road
sections. Commonly, drivers who do not know the purpose of lane markings overtake
at restricted areas. An indirect result of shallow education or lack of education is
impatience. Drivers are to be noticed moving ahead unto a signalized intersection
immediately the amber light comes on, without regard for traffic that is still in the
intersection. A part from the traffic engineer and others directly involved in traffic

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operations and management, the mass media usually educate the public on safe
operations on roads.

Finally, for an adequate design and operation of transportation and traffic

facilities, the traffic engineer must have road user characteristics as one of his
foremost considerations. He must provide for adequate warning devices to be located
at appropriate positions on the road in order to forestall the horrible consequences of
higher operating speeds and poor visibility. Road alignments should be simple rather
than complex. Roadway, footpaths and other areas of the road should be clearly
demarcated. Street lighting should be seen as a worthwhile investment that can reduce
night accidents by improving visibility. All these will give the road user a sense of
having been catered for in the design, construction and operation of the facilities.

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