Effect of perception irregularity on chain-reaction crash in low visibility

• We presented the dynamic model of the chain-reaction crash to take into account the perception irregularity of drivers.
• We studied the effect of the perception irregularity on the chain-reaction crash in low visibility.
• We derived analytically the transition points and region maps for the chain-reaction crash with the perception irregularity.

We present the dynamic model of the chain-reaction crash to take into account the irregularity of the perception–reaction time. When a driver brakes according to taillights of the forward vehicle, the perception–reaction time varies from driver to driver. We study the effect of the perception irregularity on the chain-reaction crash (multiple-vehicle collision) in low-visibility condition. The first crash may induce more collisions. We investigate how the first collision induces the chain-reaction crash numerically. We derive, analytically, the transition points and the region maps for the chain-reaction crash in traffic flow of vehicles with irregular perception times. We clarify the effect of the perception irregularity on the multiple-vehicle collision.