Dynamic performance and safety analysis of car-following models considering collision sensitivity

Car-following behavior is strongly related to the dynamic performance and safety of vehicles, and these behaviors must be studied more comprehensively. This study first quantitatively analyzes the relationship between time to collision and car-following behavior, and then proposes the concept of collision sensitivity coefficient. Based on the full velocity difference model, we introduce the collision sensitivity coefficient into the car-following model to explore its effect on vehicle dynamic performance and safety from a different perspective. The stability of traffic flow is investigated using linear stability theory and obtain the neutral stability condition of the proposed model. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed model can improve the stability of traffic flow and successfully suppress traffic jams. The computation results using various safety evaluation indicators reveal that the proposed model not only has better dynamic performance than the full velocity difference model but also can effectively improve the safety of vehicles. We conclude that collision sensitivity substantially affects car-following behavior. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.