Safety

TRW has built, under NHTSA contract, a fully automated data acquisition system for assessing the effectiveness of a lane change collision avoidance system. The system features two subsystems that allow for automated acquisition and analysis of data. The first is a scanning laser rangefinder which serves both as the collision warning sensor and collector of ground truth information. The second subsystem is an eye-tracker which outputs, at 30 Hz, the driver’s gaze direction. Preliminary data, taken at a test track and on local freeways using team members, have refined the parameters that make up the driver warning algorithm. The data is consistent with a keep out zone adjacent to and 30 ft. behind the car and a 3 second time to arrival for fast approaching vehicles.

Battelle Human Factors Transportation Center

SAIC - Turner-Fairbank Research Center

Federal Highway Administration - Turner-Fairbank Research Center

University of Iowa - Department of Industrial Engineering

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

Vehicle crash statistics in the U.S. are dominated by light vehicles at a rate in excess of 94% of all vehicles involved. This paper reviews the USDOT crash avoidance program for light vehicles being managed through the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) within the Department’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Program.

The paper begins with crash statistics to define the crash problem for light vehicles in the U.S. Four major crash categories dominate the crash statistics, these being rear-end, lane change, road departure, and crossing path crashes (at junctions). Further, these categories are broken down into a total of 15 common pre-crash scenarios along with causal factors. The causal factors analyses identify driving task errors as the primary cause in about 75% of all crashes studied, thus indicating that driver assistance countermeasures could be very effective.

The paper next discusses the IVI programmatic approach to develop crash countermeasures for light vehicles, which requires a joint cooperative effort between Government and industry. The technical approach is described next, which is composed of baseline driver performance analyses, system performance specifications development, creation of human factors design guidelines, objective test development for countermeasure systems, and benefits analyses for the countermeasures.

The last section of the paper describes the current state of progress in each of the areas of the technical approach. Radar-based rear-end collision warning is currently the most mature of the countermeasures and is in final development for a field operational test to begin in 2002. Testbed vehicles are described for each of the four crash countermeasures. Progress in benefits methodology for the countermeasure evaluations is described.

Intelligent Vehicle Initiative - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

This paper describes the results of a comprehensive evaluation of the Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) system, based on an ICC Field Operational Test (FOT). The primary goal of the evaluation was to determine the safety effects of the ICC system. However, the evaluation also addressed three additional goals: characterize the ICC system and vehicle performance, determine user acceptance of the ICC system, and assess system deployment issues. With respect to evaluating ICC safety effects, it was concluded that use of the ICC system was associated with safer driving compared to manual control and, to a lesser extent, conventional cruise control, and is projected to result in net safety benefits if widely deployed. It was also found that, as a prototype, the ICC system performed remarkably well during the FOT. Furthermore, participants in the FOT had a high level of acceptance of the ICC system. Finally, it was found that use of the ICC system would promote reductions in fuel consumption and emissions.

Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), the Minnesota State Patrol (MSP) and the Mayo Emergency Communications Center (MECC) teamed up with Veridian Engineering to develop an emergency communications infrastructure not only capable of directly accepting Mayday calls, but intelligent enough to accurately route calls to the proper authority depending on the geographic location of the incident.

Mayday Plus proved the operational success of the technologies developed during the project. The in-vehicle equipment proved the capability of sending three types of manual emergency requests and automatic notification in the case of simulated crash events. Dispatchers receiving Mayday Plus calls were able to quickly and efficiently locate incidents and forward data and calls as necessary to other agencies. However, in comparison to actual cellular 9-1-1 calls where the dispatcher must rely on the caller to obtain accurate location information, the complete location and crash data message sent by the Mayday Plus system proved to be slower. Minor changes to the design of the communication system are expected to improve this result. Nonetheless, while it cannot be a substitute for human intervention, it proved the success of providing accurate and relevant information that could further improve the quality of response to incidents. As well, in situations where the victim is unable to effectively communicate, it could possibly provide life-saving data.

Castle Rock Consultants

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA

Georgia’s Emergency Motorist Aid Call Box Pilot Project, the first call box system in the State, was installed in May 1999 to determine its effectiveness in providing emergency service to stranded motorists in Georgia. A total of 147 call boxes were installed on one of the most rural sections of Interstate in Georgia. The project is 39 miles in length and is located within Troup, Harris and Muscogee Counties on I-185.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) was interested in determining the benefits and effectiveness of the system. Based on this evaluation, GDOT will determine whether it would be beneficial to install call boxes in other areas of the state.

TransCore

Georgia Department of Transportation

Presented at the 10th ITS Annual Conference and Exposition, May 1-4, 2000 Boston, MA