Decision making in emergency situations

Abstract

This paper presents in summary form a body of research dealing with emergency manoeuvres. Several complementary research projects are still in progress at INRETS. The typological approach is based on kinematic reconstruction of actual accidents and tries to establish whether there is an optimal manoeuvre for the driver to make in the circumstances. The performance-level approach is aimed at estimating the gains that could be obtained from improvements in the performance levels of vehicles. The driver approach attempts to explain the manoeuvres carried out, with particular emphasis on the under-utilization of lateral avoidance manoeuvres. To that end, two experiments were conducted. One concerned users' descriptions of, and familiarity with, the manoeuvres best suited to particular problems encountered at intersections. The other studied drivers' ability to make an accurate assessment, on a circuit, of the limit beyond which a manoeuvre is no longer feasible. The consistency between the different approaches is also discussed, as are the presumed effects of stress and time pressure, on which no experiments have yet been conducted.

Keywords:

• In-depth accident analyses
• Accident reconstructions
• Emergency manoeuvres
• Decision making
• Time pressure.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

GILLES MALATERRE

To whom requests for reprints should be sent.