Fundamental study on the response characteristics of drivers during an earthquake based on driving simulator experiments

After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the expressway structures in Japan were retrofitted and they will not now be Seriously damaged under a certain level of strong earthquake motion. However, the stability of a moving vehicle has not been investigated yet. It has been reported that drivers feel seismically induced vibrations, especially in the transverse direction of vehicles. Owing to this phenomenon, drivers have some difficulty in controlling the vehicles during strong shaking. For further safety promotion of the expressway networks, it is important to understand the drivers' reactions to seismic motion. The present authors have performed a series of seismic response analyses of a moving vehicle to investigate its response characteristics based on numerical simulation. However, the responses of the driver were not considered in the simulation process. In order to investigate the drivers' reactions during an earthquake. a series Of virtual tests were conducted using a driving simulator. This driving simulator has six servomotor-powered electric actuators that control its motions. Several types of tests were carried Out for different examinees to investigate drivers' responses while controlling the simulator under seismic motion. The results of this study showed that a larger response time lag to strong shaking and over turning of the steering wheel may shift the vehicle into the next lane. According to this finding, traffic accidents Could possibly Occur under strong ground shaking in the case of heavy traffic. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons. Ltd.