Misperception of road curvature due to slope change
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Misperception of road curvature due to slope change Kokichi Sugihara1 Received: 6 March 2020 / Revised: 15 July 2020 / Accepted: 18 August 2020 © The JJIAM Publishing Committee and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract This article points out how a driver might misperceive the curvature of a road curve if the curve is combined with a slope change that the driver does not recognize. We investigated the relationship between the apparent curvature of a road and the change of the slope, and clarified the difference between the perceived curvature and the actual curvature when the driver mistakenly believes that the slope is constant. Curves are typical road structures on which traffic accidents occur frequently, and the main cause of these accidents is regarded as excessive speed due to driver care‑ lessness. The results of this study suggest one possible reason why drivers travel too fast on curves. Other aspects of the optical illusion that cause misperception of the curvature are also touched upon. Keywords Road curve · Traffic accident · Curvature perception · Slope change · Optical illusion Mathematics Subject Classification 3MAH45000
1 Introduction Traffic accidents are serious problems in our daily lives, and decreasing them is an important issue for both drivers and road administrators. Usually, accidents are regarded as the results of carelessness by the drivers who are involved, such as mis‑ perception of the road shape and misperception of their own speed [8]. However, carelessness is not an isolated factor; it is deeply related to the structures of roads. Indeed, traffic accidents occur much more frequently on specific sections of roads, such as curves and crossings, where it is more difficult to perceive the state of the road precisely [3, 6, 11]. Hence, we have to clarify what kinds of road structures are apt to induce driver carelessness. * Kokichi Sugihara [email protected] 1
Meiji Institute for Advanced Study of Mathematical Science, Meiji University, 4‑21‑1 Nakano, Nakano‑ku, Tokyo 164‑8525, Japan
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A typical example of a road structure that can cause driver misperception is an anomalous slope, sometimes called a “mystery road” or “ghost slope,” where an uphill slope is perceived as a downhill slope and vice versa [1, 5, 12]. For those slopes, drivers cannot control the brake pedal appropriately, which might cause excessive speed and accidents. Curves are another type of road structure related to misperceptions and related accidents. According to statistics of the Tokyo Metropolitan Highway Administra‑ tion for 2015, 25% of car accidents occur at curves. If we consider not only highways but also general roads, the types of roads at which accidents occur can be classified into road crossings, neighbors of road crossings, single roads and railroad crossings, and the types of accidents can be classified into person–car accidents, car–car acci‑ dents and single-car accidents. If we concentrate on the type of accidents at single roads with
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