Would one expect to see an increased amount of jerks amongst drivers involved in accidents, rather than drivers who have not been involved in accidents? Yes, explain Omar Bagdadi [pictured] (of VTI, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Borlänge, Sweden) and András Várhelyib (of Trafik och väg, Lunds Tekniska Högskola, Sweden), in a paper for the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention. The core concept of the study was the idea that perhaps car divers who exhibit jerky driving might be more likely to become involved in accidents. If so, this could provide a way around the problems involved in assessing intelligent in-vehicle systems. The research determined that :
“Jerk analyses make it possible to identify safety critical driving behaviour or ‘accident prone’ drivers.”
“It is thus expected to see an increased amount of jerks amongst driver involved in accidents than drivers that have not been involved in accidents.”
See: Jerky driving – An indicator of accident proneness? in: Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 43, Issue 4, July 2011, Pages 1359–1363.
Also see: (related to a different type of jerk) Towards a Theory of Jerks (help wanted)