Forward Collision Warning: Preliminary Requirements for Crash Alert Timing

Forward collision warning (FCW) systems are intended to provide drivers with crash alerts to help them avoid or mitigate rear-end crashes. To facilitate successful deployment of FCW systems, the Ford-GM Crash Avoidance Metrics Partnership (CAMP) developed preliminary minimum functional requirements for FCW systems implemented on light vehicles (passenger cars, light trucks, and vans). This paper summarizes one aspect of the CAMP results: minimum requirements and recommendations for when to present rear-end crash alerts to the driver. These requirements are valid over a set of kinematic conditions that are described, and assume successful tracking and identification of a legitimate crash threat. The results are based on extensive closed-course human factors testing that studied drivers' last-second braking preferences and capabilities. The paper reviews the human factors testing, modeling of results, and the computation of FCW crash alert timing requirements and recommendations.