Experimental determination of driver reaction time and analysis of its influence on the full braking distance of the vehicle

Abstract This article presents an experimental study on the reaction time of motor vehicle drivers in a real urban environment during a simulated hazard scenario involving the sudden appearance of a pedestrian from the driver’s blind spot. The initial hazard conditions are defined using the concept of “Time-To-Collision” (TTC), determined by the vehicle's speed and the distance to the hazard location. The study aims to experimentally determine the driver's reaction time and analyze its influence on the total braking distance of the vehicle. The experiments were conducted on the same road section and under identical hazard scenarios, while the surrounding traffic environment varied for each participant. Experimental data were collected using an electronic measurement system installed in a test vehicle. An algorithm was developed to determine the kinematic parameters during braking, along with a computational program implemented in MATLAB. The experimental results provide reliable input parameters for traffic accident reconstruction and forensic technical analysis.