Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) light vehicle platform field operational test data analysis plan

Abstract

This document presents the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute’s plan to perform analysis of data collected from the light vehicle platform field operational test of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) program. The purpose of the IVBSS program is to evaluate the effectiveness of, and driver acceptance for, state-of-the-art integrated crash warning systems for both passenger cars and commercial trucks. The light vehicle platform in the IVBSS FOT includes four integrated crash-warning subsystems (forward crash, lateral drift, curve speed, and lane-change/merge crash warnings). The integrated crash warning system is installed into a fleet of 16 passenger cars, each of which is instrumented to capture detailed data regarding the driving environment, driver behavior, warning system activity, and vehicle kinematics. The cars will be operated by 108 randomly selected, licensed drivers from southeast Michigan. Each driver operates the instrumented car in place of the car they normally drive for a period of 40 days—including a 12-day baseline period. Data on driver acceptance for the integrated system are being collected through a post-drive survey and debriefings. The plan describes analyses that emphasize a summary of integrated crash warning system activity, examine how the integrated system affects driver behavior, and assess driver acceptance for the integrated system. The analyses are intended to be complementary to analyses being performed by an independent evaluator, the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center.