The purpose of this report is to increase knowledge of traffic behaviour at entry ramps on motorways in EU countries with different forms of regulation, ramp geometry and behaviour. The report draws on two studies carried out in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The main study is a behavioural study based on video recordings from 12 ramps and supplemented by a minor psychological study. In the behavioural study different parameters were measured; entry lag, vehicle speed, speed difference, time gap, proportion of ramp vehicles entering in front, way of entry, and dangerous situations. The results showed that despite their respective rules about entering the motorway, ramp vehicles in all four countries in general enter the motorway according to the merging rule behaviour. The difference in results, especially in the number of dangerous situations, is more dependent on ramp geometry than traffic regulations. The psychological study showed that motorist behaviour is more or less the same in the four selected countries from a psychological point of view. The main result was that the politeness of drivers varies from country to country. In Germany and Spain the drivers are polite, but not as polite as in the Netherlands and Denmark. (A)
Abstract