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Tunnel-interchange connecting sections pose significant safety challenges on mountainous expressways due to their high incidence of accidents. Improving road safety necessitates a comprehensive understanding of driver behavior in such areas. This study explores the influences of road characteristics, signage information volume, and traffic conditions on drivers car-following and lane-changing behavior in tunnel-interchange diverging areas. Utilizing driving data from 25 subjects of 72 simulated road models, driving performance is assessed using Friedman rank test and multivariate variance analysis. The results highlight the significant influence of both connection distance and signage information load on driving behavior. In tunnel-interchange scenarios, the reduction of velocity increased by 62.61%, and speed variability surged by 61.11%, indicating potential adverse effects on driving stability due to the environmental transitions. Decreased connection distances are associated with reduced lane-changing durations, larger steering angles, and increased failure rates. Furthermore, every two units increase in signage information leads to a 13.16% rise in maximum deceleration and a 5% increase in time headway. Notably, the signage information volume shows a significant interaction with connection distance (F=1.60, P=0.045) for most car-following indicators. Hence, the study recommends a maximum connection distance of 700 m and signage information not exceeding nine units for optimal safety and stability.
Sun et al. (Thu,) studied this question.