IVHS TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED TO COLLISION AVOIDANCE: PERSPECTIVES ON SIX TARGET CRASH TYPES AND COUNTERMEASURES

The NHTSA Office of Crash Avoidance Research (OCAR), in conjunction with the Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (VNTSC), has underway a multi-disciplinary program to:identify crash causal factors and applicable countermeasure concepts, model target crash scenarios and Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS) technological interventions, provide preliminary device effectiveness estimates, and to identify countermeasure research data needs. To date, five major target crash types (representing, in the aggregate, more than half of all crashes) have been examined: l Rear-End l Backing l Single Vehicle Roadway Departure (SVRD) l Lane Change/Merge l Signalized Intersection/Crossing Path Independent work is also underway to address the drowsy/fatigued driver problem, an example of a target crash defmed by its cause as opposed to its configuration. This is the sixth crash type described in this paper. This paper presents ...