Driver’s Awareness and Lane Changing Maneuver in Traffic Flow based on Cellular Automaton Model

Effect of driver’s awareness (e.g., to estimate the speed and arrival time of another vehicle) on the lane changing maneuver is discussed. “Scope awareness” is defined as the visibility which is required for the driver to make a visual perception about road condition and the speed of vehicle that appears in the target lane for lane changing in the road. Cellular automaton based simulation model is created and applied to simulation studies for driver awareness behavior. This study clarifies relations between the lane changing behavior and the scope awareness parameter that reflects driver behavior. Simulation results show that the proposed model is valid for investigation of the important features of lane changing maneuver.