Evaluating the safe and eco-driving performances of car-following behaviors in a vehicle platoon under foggy conditions

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate safe and eco-driving performances of vehicle car-following behaviors in a vehicle platoon under foggy conditions. Eight drivers participated in a multi-user driving simulation experiment, and their driving performances in a vehicle platoon were collected. A Fault Tree model was established to evaluate the collision risk of the vehicle platoon, and the VT-Micro model was adopted to calculate vehicles’ fuel consumption, CO₂ emission, and NO_x emission. The results showed that heavy fog exponentially increased the collision risk of a vehicle platoon, which cannot be compensated by adaptive behavior, and it also increased fuel consumption and NO_x emission during the car-following process. At the speed limit of 60 km/h, the safe and eco-driving performances of the vehicle platoon under foggy conditions have been effectively improved. This study also found that the vehicles at the rearward positions in a vehicle platoon tended to keep short car-following gaps and large speed adjustments, which was the main cause of higher collision risks. The study provides a better understanding of the safe and eco-driving features of the vehicle platoon under foggy conditions. The established fault tree provided theoretical references for the real-time monitoring of collision risk in a vehicle platoon.

Keywords:

• fog condition
• speed limit
• vehicle platoon
• safe and eco-driving
• car-following behavior
• multi-user driving simulator system

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72171017) and China Scholarship Council Scholarships (202107090058).