The research described is aimed at making a contribution to the analysis of cognitive aspects of driver behaviour in car-following situations. It represents an in-depth qualitative investigation into driver behaviour in the context of the complex interactions at work in real situations. The methodology used consists of observing driver behaviour from within a specially equipped vehicle during an actual journey. To complement this observation, in-depth interviews were conducted with the subject after the drive. The paper focuses mainly on the results of an analysis of these interviews. This analysis highlighted the diversity of cues that drivers take into account to gauge the critical nature of safety margins with respect to the preceding vehicle (speed, instability of the traffic situation, manoeuvres carried out by the driver or by other drivers, ...), as well as the temporal aspect and the anticipation mechanisms involved in the control of these margins. (A)
Samenvatting