Influence of Alcohol Concentration and Braking Procedure on Motorcylist Brake Reaction Time Using a Motorcycle Riding Simulator

The statistical data published by National Police Agency, Taiwan, indicated that the motorcycle induced the highest accident rate, and drunk driving ranked first among the traffic fatality causes in 2007. The high traffic accident rate was attributed to the alcohol decaying driver reaction and the increase of frequency of using motorcycle in daily life as the car parking space and driving cost were considered. A motorcycle riding simulator, integrating a stationary real motorcycle and virtual reality system, was developed to measure motorcyclist brake reaction time under different drunken levels and braking procedures. The motorcyclist encountered an emergence that a pedestrian went across the road abruptly in a simulated driving scene. The time between an emergence and the activation of brake lever was recorded as the brake reaction time. Ten young participants, ranging from 20 to 25 years of age, were recruited in this study. Drunken levels for motorcyclist were designed to breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) of none, 0.15 mg/l and 0.25 mg/l. In addition, two different braking procedures, subject positioned his fingers on brake level or had his fingers wrapped around the handlebar, were tested. The experimental results showed that a longer brake reaction time was induced by the motorcyclist under higher BrAC. Additionally, the brake reaction time is also significantly influenced by braking procedure. The results in this study gave really useful information for driving education and skill in the field of motorcyclist driving safety. As the motorcycle riding simulator in this study did not involve a motion platform, participants cannot experience emergency motions induced from abrupt acceleration and braking. However, by using state-of-the-art computer graphic technologies the simulator gave a reallike scene of emergency traffic event.