Drivers’ Speed Behaviour at Rural Intersections: Simulator Experiment and Real World Monitoring

While drivers’ speed behaviour has been widely studied, only marginal attention to the speed behaviour at intersections has been dedicated and more research is needed. Aim of this study was: (1) to evaluate if the intersections significantly affect drivers’ speed along the major road; (2) to quantify this interaction in terms of both speed change at the center of the intersection and speed profile approaching and departing the intersection; and (3) to develop a procedure to integrate the existing operating speed profile models in order to take into account the presence of the intersections. The study was performed by a driving simulator experiment and a real world speed monitoring. The presence of the intersection in the simulator study produced a statistically significant mean speed reduction in the center of the intersection equal to 12%, while in the real world experiment it produced a mean speed reduction equal to 22%. Furthermore, a statistically significant mean speed reduction was observed also 150 and 75 m before the intersection. Similar reductions in the operating speeds were observed. Both simulator and real world results showed that that intersections significantly affect drivers’ speed behaviour, even though some differences between the two experiments were observed.