Paul St-Aubin edited Introcution.tex  almost 10 years ago

Commit id: 7fc2573f1f234891550f1e5e0434fbb1550bc1e2

deletions | additions      

       

\section{Introduction}  Roundabouts are a relatively new design for intersection traffic management in North America. With considerable promises from abroad in terms of safety, as well as capacity---roundabouts are a staple of European road design---roundabouts have only recently proliferated in parts of North America including the province of Québec. However, questions still remain regarding the feasibility of introducing the roundabout to regions were driving culture and road design philosophy differs and where drivers are not habituated to their use. This aspect of road user behaviour integration is crucial for their implementation for roundabouts manage traffic conflicts passively. In roundabouts, road user interactions and driving conflicts are handled entirely by way of driving etiquette between road users: lane merging, right-of-way, yielding behaviour, and eye contact in the case of vulnerable road users are all at play for successful passage negotiation at a roundabout. This is in contrast with typical North American intersections managed by computer-controlled traffic-light controllers (or on occasion police officers) and traffic circles \cite{Wallwork_1991}  of all kinds which are also signalised. And while roundabouts share much in common with 4 and 2-way stops, they are frequently used for high-capacity, even high-speed intersections where 4 and 2-way stops would normally not be justified. Resistance to adoption in some areas is still important, notably on the part of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists \cite{Hyd_n_2000, Stone_2002, Gran__2011, Perdomo_2014} but also by some drivers too. While a number of European studies cite reductions in accident probability and accident severity, particularly for the Netherlands \cite{Schoon_1994}, Denmark \cite{Jensen_2013}, Sweden \cite{Bergh_1997, Hyd_n_2000}, research on roundabouts in North America is still limited, and even fewer attempts at microscopic behaviour analysis exist anywhere in the world. The latter is important because it provides insight over the inner mechanics of driving behaviour which might be key to tailoring roundabout design for regional adoption and implementation efforts.