Study of drivers’ response time in traffic streams

Abstract

Reaction times of drivers responding to traffic wardens'. signals are important for the design and safe operations of roads. The increased number of road users and pedestrians lead to increasing demands on the facilities and eventual inconvenience and delays. This study evaluated the response time of drivers on the minor leg of Challenge Intersection in Ilorin because of the significance of the minor traffic stream on the capacity analysis or design of traffic merging at the major leg. The method employed was basically manual whereby stopwatches were used to measure the response time of drivers who were unaware of being monitored The response time of each driver in a traffic stream queue was taken in relation to respective positions in the queue. The average response time for the first and consecutive vehicles in stop and move signal are shown in tables 1.0 and 1.1 respectively. It can be deduced that those far behind do not have to see the warden signals before they respond because the brake light of the preceding vehicle will dictate the signal