Experimental investigation of vehicle's lateral acceleration on highway horizontal curves

It is documented in the literature that the speeds selected by drivers on left-turn curves were higher than the speeds on the right-turn curves. The data collected from seventy curves of two-lane rural highways located in Eastern Ontario Canada for this research also showed the trend of higher values of lateral acceleration on right-turn curves compared to left-turn curves. This thesis further explains the previous findings by going in depth with the reason why the lateral acceleration is lower on left-turn curves. A subsequent objective of this research is to develop models for prediction of lateral acceleration with uneven weight in the vehicle. Turning direction coupled with uneven weight distribution in a vehicle significantly affects the values of lateral acceleration during curve driving. If a vehicle---with extra weight on the driver side---is turning right on a superelevated curve, the excess static weight will generate a feeling of more lateral force as indicated in a greater lateral acceleration, compared to a left-turn. This difference in the lateral acceleration values could result in different driving speeds on left-turn and right-turn curves.