Cyclists' starting behavior at intersections

Abstract

In the context of highly automated driving an important aspect is the understanding of Vulnerable Road Users' behavior. In this article we concentrate on starting cyclists at an urban intersection and investigate 104 trajectories of uninstructed cyclists' heads, feet, and bikes. A detailed analysis shows that on average cyclists' heads start moving 0.33 s earlier than the bike. Even 0.31 s before that, about 29 % of the cyclists start with an arm movement. Additionally, we observe two different starting motion patterns. One group accelerates by pushing off the ground with a foot and the other only applies accelerating force to a pedal. Separating the data by different slopes of the road and motion patterns, the analysis shows that motion patterns have more influence on the starting behavior than the slope at the investigated intersection.