Displaying the Driving State of Automated Vehicles to Other Road Users: An International, Virtual Reality-Based Study as a First Step for the Harmonized Regulations of Novel Signaling Devices

Integrating automated vehicles into mixed traffic entails several challenges. Their driving behavior must be designed such that is understandable for all human road users, and that it ensures an efficient and safe traffic system. Previous studies investigated these issues, especially regarding the communication between automated vehicles and pedestrians. These studies used different methods, e.g., videos, virtual reality, or Wizard of Oz vehicles. However, the extent of transferability between these studies is still unknown. Therefore, we replicated the same study design in four different settings: two video, one virtual reality, and one Wizard of Oz setup. In the first video setup, videos from the virtual reality setup were used, while in the second setup, we filmed the Wizard of Oz vehicle. In all studies, participants stood at the roadside in a shared space. An automated vehicle approached from the left, using different driving profiles characterized by changing speed to communicate its intention to let the pedestrians cross the road. Participants were asked to recognize the intention of the automated vehicle and to press a button as soon as they realized this intention. Results revealed differences in the intention recognition time between the four study setups, as well as in the correct intention rate. The results from vehicle–pedestrian interaction studies published in recent years that used different study settings can therefore only be compared to each other to a limited extent.

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Impact of External Human–Machine Interface Communication Strategies of Automated Vehicles on Pedestrians’ Crossing Decisions and Behaviors in an Urban Environment

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158396 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8396

Author(s):

Marc Wilbrink ◽

Merle Lau ◽

Johannes Illgner ◽

Anna Schieben ◽

Michael Oehl

Keyword(s):

Urban Traffic ◽

Automated Vehicles ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Communication Tools ◽

Automated Vehicle ◽

Additional Information ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road Users ◽

And Behaviors ◽

Vehicle Automation

The development of automated vehicles (AVs) and their integration into traffic are seen by many vehicle manufacturers and stakeholders such as cities or transportation companies as a revolution in mobility. In future urban traffic, it is more likely that AVs will operate not in separated traffic spaces but in so-called mixed traffic environments where different types of traffic participants interact. Therefore, AVs must be able to communicate with other traffic participants, e.g., pedestrians as vulnerable road users (VRUs), to solve ambiguous traffic situations. To achieve well-working communication and thereby safe interaction between AVs and other traffic participants, the latest research discusses external human–machine interfaces (eHMIs) as promising communication tools. Therefore, this study examines the potential positive and negative effects of AVs equipped with static (only displaying the current vehicle automation status (VAS)) and dynamic (communicating an AV’s perception and intention) eHMIs on the interaction with pedestrians by taking subjective and objective measurements into account. In a Virtual Reality (VR) simulator study, 62 participants were instructed to cross a street while interacting with non-automated (without eHMI) and automated vehicles (equipped with static eHMI or dynamic eHMI). The results reveal that a static eHMI had no effect on pedestrians’ crossing decisions and behaviors compared to a non-automated vehicle without any eHMI. However, participants benefit from the additional information of a dynamic eHMI by making earlier decisions to cross the street and higher certainties regarding their decisions when interacting with an AV with a dynamic eHMI compared to an AV with a static eHMI or a non-automated vehicle. Implications for a holistic evaluation of eHMIs as AV communication tools and their safe introduction into traffic are discussed based on the results.

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Identifying Conflict Points for the Examination of Automated Vehicles in the Presence of Vulnerable Road Users

Transportation Research Procedia ◽

10.1016/j.trpro.2020.03.138 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 ◽

pp. 609-616

Author(s):

Anysia Mayerhofer ◽

Inbal Haas ◽

Felix Gabriel ◽

Bernhard Friedrich

Keyword(s):

Automated Vehicles ◽

Road Users ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

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Challenges and Opportunities for the Intersection of Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) and Automated Vehicles (AVs)

Lecture Notes in Mobility - Road Vehicle Automation 5 ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-94896-6_18 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 207-217 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Justin M. Owens ◽

Laura Sandt ◽

Justin F. Morgan ◽

Sudharson Sundararajan ◽

Michael Clamann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Automated Vehicles ◽

Road Users ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Vulnerable Road Users

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Addressing inequal risk exposure in the development of automated vehicles

Ethics and Information Technology ◽

10.1007/s10676-021-09610-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Manuel Dietrich

Keyword(s):

Risk Taking ◽

Social Inequalities ◽

Road Traffic ◽

Risk Estimation ◽

Risk Exposure ◽

Automated Vehicles ◽

Automated Driving ◽

Moderate Risk ◽

Road Users ◽

Different Types

AbstractAutomated vehicles (AVs) are expected to operate on public roads, together with non-automated vehicles and other road users such as pedestrians or bicycles. Recent ethical reports and guidelines raise worries that AVs will introduce injustice or reinforce existing social inequalities in road traffic. One major injustice concern in today’s traffic is that different types of road users are exposed differently to risks of corporal harm. In the first part of the paper, we discuss the responsibility of AV developers to address existing injustice concerns regarding risk exposure as well as approaches on how to fulfill the responsibility for a fairer distribution of risk. In contrast to popular approaches on the ethics of risk distribution in unavoidable accident cases, we focus on low and moderate risk situations, referred to as routine driving. For routine driving, the obligation to distribute risks fairly must be discussed in the context of risk-taking and risk-acceptance, balancing safety objectives of occupants and other road users with driving utility. In the second part of the paper, we present a typical architecture for decentralized automated driving which contains a dedicated module for real-time risk estimation and management. We examine how risk estimation modules can be adjusted and parameterized to redress some inequalities.

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A Survey: Why and How Automated Vehicles Should Communicate to Other Road-Users

2018 IEEE 88th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Fall) ◽

10.1109/vtcfall.2018.8691037 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hirofumi Onishi

Keyword(s):

Automated Vehicles ◽

Road Users

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Behavioral strategies of automated vehicles in critical right of way situations on intersections

at - Automatisierungstechnik ◽

10.1515/auto-2014-1134 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 63 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Alexander Stoff ◽

Hermann Winner

Keyword(s):

Collision Avoidance ◽

Behavioral Strategies ◽

Automated Vehicles ◽

Right Of Way ◽

Road Users ◽

Safety Function ◽

Potential Safety ◽

Avoidance Strategies ◽

The Right

AbstractThis paper analyzes and evaluates alternative options for action and earliest possible dates for intervention for an automated safety function to avoid or mitigate collisions in priority situations in which the right of way regulations are violated by the crossing road users. Based on a simulation of the collision avoidance strategies, the potential safety benefits could be predicted.

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Unsettled Issues Regarding Communication of Automated Vehicles with Other Road Users

10.4271/epr2020023 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sven Beiker ◽

Keyword(s):

Traditional Approach ◽

Research Report ◽

Automated Vehicles ◽

Automated Driving ◽

Road Users ◽

Planning Organizations ◽

Telecommunication Companies ◽

Major Shift ◽

Implicit And Explicit ◽

Multiple Scenarios

The focus of this SAE EDGE™ Research Report is to address a topic overlooked by many who choose to view automated driving systems and AVs from a “10,000-foot” perspective: how automated vehicles (AVs) will actually communicate with other road users. Conventional (human-driven) vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians already have a functioning system of understating each other while on the move. Adding automated vehicles to the mix requires assessing the spectrum of existing modes of communication – both implicit and explicit, biological and technological, and how they will interact with each other in the real world. The impending deployment of AVs represents a major shift in the traditional approach to ground transportation; its effects will inevitably be felt by parties directly involved with the vehicle manufacturing and use and those that play roles in the mobility ecosystem (e.g., aftermarket and maintenance industries, infrastructure and planning organizations, automotive insurance providers, marketers, telecommunication companies). Unsettled Issues Regarding Communication of Automated Vehicles with Other Road Users brings together the multiple scenarios we are likely to see in a future not too far away and how they are likely to play out in practical ways.

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