In the last few years, the importance of trucks on inland cargo transportation has not stopped increasing. Meanwhile, truck platooning is emerging, along with automated driving, to reduce costs using new technologies. In this context, this research aims to provide a first study on the effects of truck platoons on freeways’ road safety, focusing on the reduction of visibility caused by truck platoons with shorter gaps on horizontal curves. This safety issue will also affect motorways and multilane roads. A geometric model has been developed and computed, which provides the available sight distances and the stopping sight distance (SSD) for a vehicle overpassing a platoon in a circular curve without transition curves. There are many variables, such as radius, lane width, vehicle and truck platoon parameters, and relative position. The overpassing vehicle has been included in the model for both human-driven and automated, considering the adaptive cruise control radar cone of visibility. The main result of this study is the minimum curve radius in order to allow a safe SSD, considering different design criteria. Moreover, depending on the level of automation of the vehicle, this minimum radius will be different, being higher for automated vehicles. Results prove the importance of the studied phenomenon and the necessity to implement further countermeasures. Additionally, a case study where the effects of truck platooning on the visibility of a real motorway stretch are evaluated.

中文翻译：

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超车列队车辆安全停车视距最小水平曲线半径的确定

在过去的几年里，卡车对内陆货物运输的重要性并没有停止增加。与此同时，卡车编队和自动驾驶正在兴起，以利用新技术降低成本。在此背景下，本研究旨在首次研究卡车排对高速公路道路安全的影响，重点关注水平曲线上间隙较短的卡车排造成的能见度降低。这一安全问题也将影响高速公路和多车道道路。已经开发和计算了一个几何模型，该模型提供了车辆在没有过渡曲线的圆形曲线上越过一个排的可用视距和停车视距 (SSD)。有许多变量，例如半径、车道宽度、车辆和卡车排参数以及相对位置。考虑到自适应巡航控制雷达视锥，超车车辆已包含在人工驾驶和自动驾驶模型中。本研究的主要结果是考虑不同的设计标准，以允许安全 SSD 的最小曲线半径。此外，根据车辆的自动化水平，该最小半径会有所不同，对于自动驾驶车辆来说更高。结果证明了所研究现象的重要性以及实施进一步对策的必要性。此外，还评估了卡车队列对真实高速公路路段能见度的影响的案例研究。本研究的主要结果是考虑不同的设计标准，以允许安全 SSD 的最小曲线半径。此外，根据车辆的自动化水平，该最小半径会有所不同，对于自动驾驶车辆来说更高。结果证明了所研究现象的重要性以及实施进一步对策的必要性。此外，还评估了卡车队列对真实高速公路路段能见度的影响的案例研究。本研究的主要结果是考虑不同的设计标准，以允许安全 SSD 的最小曲线半径。此外，根据车辆的自动化水平，该最小半径会有所不同，对于自动驾驶车辆来说更高。结果证明了所研究现象的重要性以及实施进一步对策的必要性。此外，还评估了卡车队列对真实高速公路路段能见度的影响的案例研究。