THE DESIGN DRIVER IN CRASH LITIGATION

The design driver (DD) is somewhat impaired, often viewed as the reasonable worst case, and performs at about the 90th-99th percentile; only 1-10% of actual drivers are even worse. Traffic engineers need to look at road situations through the eyes of a DD's impressions in various road situations. With this in mind, this paper offers some insights with examples based on the author's experience in lawsuits involving driver performance.