Integrated vehicle-based safety systems light-vehicle field operational test key findings report

Abstract

This document presents key findings from the light-vehicle field operational test conducted as part of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems program. These findings are the result of analyses performed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to examine the effects of a prototype integrated crash warning system on driving behavior and driver acceptance. The light-vehicle platform included four integrated crash-warning subsystems (forward-crash, lateral-drift, lane-change/merge crash, and curve-speed warnings) installed on a fleet of 16 passenger cars and operated by 108 randomly-sampled drivers for a period of six weeks each. Each car was instrumented to capture detailed data on the driving environment, driver behavior, warning system activity, and vehicle kinematics. Data on driver acceptance was collected through a post-drive survey, debriefings and focus groups. Key findings indicate that use of the integrated crash warning system resulted in improvements in lane-keeping, fewer lane departures, and increased turn-signal use. The research also indicated that drivers were slightly more likely to maintain shorter headways with the integrated system. No negative behavioral adaptation effects were observed as a result of drivers’ involvement in secondary task behaviors. Drivers generally accepted the integrated crash warning system and 72 percent of all drivers said they would like to have an integrated warning system in their personal vehicles. Drivers also reported that they found the blind-spot detection component of the lane-change/merge crash warning system to be the most useful and satisfying aspect of the integrated system.