Quantitative Assessment of Driver Speeding Behavior Using Instrumented Vehicles

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Quantitative Assessment of Driver Speeding Behavior Using Instrumented Vehicles QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF DRIVER SPEEDING BEHAVIOR USING INSTRUMENTED VEHICLES A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty By Jennifer Harper Ogle In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology May 2005 Copyright 2005 by Jennifer Harper Ogle QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF DRIVER SPEEDING BEHAVIOR USING INSTRUMENTED VEHICLES Dr. Karen Dixon, Chair Dr. Randall Guensler Dr. John Leonard Dr. Michael Meyer Dr. Simon Washington April 18, 2005 IN MEMORY OF My Father Harry Edsil Harper November 17, 1929 – May 30, 1990 ”Can’t Never Could” My Grandfather Master Sergeant James Mullens June 5, 1921 - July 16, 2004 To Terry, Sam, and Emma…I love you! ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to the members of my doctoral committee, Dr. Karen Dixon, Dr. Randall Guensler, Dr. Simon Washington, Dr. Michael Meyer, and Dr. John Leonard, for their encouragement and participation throughout my doctoral experience. I have learned important lessons from each one. Dr. Dixon is an incredibly effective teacher, and through her example, I have learned the significance of the responsibility, and the value of dedication to students. Dr. Guensler has taught me many things, like how to be…an entrepreneur, a supportive mentor, a devoted colleague, and a good friend. He teaches by being. Dr. Washington has always shown patience and a positive outlook. He has been my inspiration and the sunshine behind the darkest clouds. Dr. Meyer has been a source of invaluable advice and direction along the way, some of which I followed, and the rest of which I wish I had followed. Finally, Dr. Leonard has given me the recipe for successful balance in life - gtd. Gratitude is also given to the Georgia Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for supporting the Commute Atlanta project. A special note of thanks goes to Rick Deaver for all of his assistance in acquisition and direction of the project. I would also like to thank a number of graduate students. For without their dedication and hard work, the Commute Atlanta project would not be possible. They are: Hainan Li, Hongbiao Sun, Cristina Pastore, Angshuman Guin, Vetri Elango, Jungwook Jun, and Joonho Ko. A special appreciation needs to be expressed for the continuous encouragement and comic relief provided by Lisa Baxter and Angelyn Rios. v Finally, I want to express a special debt of gratitude to my family. To my husband, Terry, for his patience, interest, wisdom, support, love, and friendship – I could not have done this without him. He has truly been my pillar of support. To my children, Sam and Emma, for their unconditional love and wonderful hugs. To my mother and father-in-law, Sharon and Gary, for their selfless contribution of time and support for our family. And last but not least, my mother and father, for loving me, giving me strength, and teaching me that I can do anything in life that I set my mind to – then supporting me absolutely when I tried. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................xii LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................xiiv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ xviii SUMMARY .........................................................................................................................xxi 1 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................1 Research Methods ................................................................................................................4 Scope ....................................................................................................................................6 Research Contributions .......................................................................................................8 Overview of Research Document ....................................................................................... 9 2 BACKGROUND ...............................................................................................................10 The Speeding Problem ......................................................................................................10 Setting and Enforcing Limits ............................................................................................11 Developments in Transportation Safety ............................................................................15 Three Components .............................................................................................................17 Issues Regarding Human Behavior ...................................................................................18 Behavioral Safety ..............................................................................................................20 3 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................24 Defining Speed and Speeding ........................................................................................... 28 The Physics of Speeding ...................................................................................................32 The Relationship between Speed and Crashes .................................................................33 The Relationship between Speed and the Speed Limit ....................................................43 Speed Trends .....................................................................................................................45 vii Crash-Involved Driver Demographics ..............................................................................47 Driver Behavior ................................................................................................................. 50 Regulatory Framework ......................................................................................................57 Speed ..............................................................................................................................58 Aggressive Driving ........................................................................................................59 Driver Records .............................................................................................................. 61 Georgia’s Driver File.................................................................................................... 62 Georgia’s Citation/Conviction File ..............................................................................64 Summary of Previous Research ........................................................................................65 4 DATA COLLECTION ....................................................................................................69 Commute Atlanta Overview .............................................................................................72 Review for Use of Human Subjects in Research ..........................................................76 Recruitment.................................................................................................................... 78 Sample Selection ............................................................................................................79 Survey Methodology...................................................................................................... 83 Verification Call ........................................................................................................84 Mailing of Survey Packet ..........................................................................................86 Reminder Call.............................................................................................................87 Retrieval of Travel Data ............................................................................................87 Recruitment and Installation Rates ...............................................................................88 Travel Diary Response Rates ........................................................................................91 Vehicle Instrumentation ................................................................................................94 Trip Reporting ...........................................................................................................96 Optional Features ...................................................................................................... 97 Engine Computer Monitoring Capabilities ..............................................................99 viii Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety (DMVS) Crash Database ..................... 100 Commute Atlanta Participant Survey .............................................................................106 Georgia Department of Transportation ...........................................................................108 Crash Location Information ........................................................................................108 Roadway Maps and Associated Network Characteristics .........................................108 5 DATA PROCESSING ....................................................................................................111
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