Research on lane change timing model considering the influence of four surrounding vehicles

Systematic lane change can effectively keep traffic safty and smooth traffic flow. The major lane change models in the literature are categorized into two groups: models that aim to capture the lane change decision-making process, and the models that aim to quantify the impact of lane change behavior on surrounding vehicles. In this paper, we futher consider the complicated environment of expressway, and present a lane change model considering the influence of four surrounding vehicles. In order to establish the relationship between the lane change timing and reference longitudinal/lateral acceleration, every vehicle is simplified into a rectangle and the process of lane change is divided into four phases, including the phase in which the front wheel turning angle is 0 degree. Based on a group of mathematical equations, we derive a lane change model with parameters collected in prior research and actual road experiments. The details about lane change model and related equations are analyzed in this paper. The maneuverability of lane change rules represented in this paper are confirmed by MATLAB simulation. At last, the correctness and feasibility of this new lane change model is proved by simulation results.