Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) usage and resulting safety effects

Abstract

The development of active safety systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Lane Keeping Aid (LKA), and Volvo’s Pilot Assist (PA) has the potential to improve road safety. These systems assist drivers in performing driving tasks through the use of cameras, radar, and Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). However, to what extent are these systems actually used in real-world driving? When and where are they activated, and how do their usage differ among different drivers? What measurable safety effects can be achieved by using these systems in various driving scenarios? This thesis investigates usage patterns of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), with a particular focus on time gap settings of PA and ACC, types of system deactivations, and lane deviation in comparison to manual driving. In addition, the thesis explores general ADAS usage and the contexts in which these systems are engaged. Typical driving scenarios, such as car following, car approaching, and cut-in scenarios are defined and analyzed to understand how ADAS operates within each scenario. The result showed that the usage of ADAS, both ACC and PA, are used to a greater extent on high speed roads such as highways and expressways compared to rural roads. Additionally, drivers who engage ACC and PA during car following and car approaching scenarios tend to maintain greater safety margins in terms of time gap and Time to Collision (TTC) compared to those driving manually. The analysis further revealed that drivers who set larger time gaps when using ACC or PA also tend to maintain greater time gaps during manual driving. Drivers with PA activated also showed to maintain the lowest mean lane deviations, while manual driving resulted in the highest mean lane deviations on highways, expressways, and rural roads.