2004 Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Projects Book, Online Version

Section Seven: Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI) : Introduction

The Intelligent Vehicle Initiative’s (IVI) primary focus is in support of the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) goal of improving safety. The program seeks to increase traffic safety by expediting the commercial availability of advanced vehicle control and safety systems, which may be augmented by interaction with the infrastructure. Secondarily, the program supports the goals of improving mobility and productivity.

Over the last several decades, in-vehicle safety equipment such as seatbelts and airbags, improved highway design, and anti-drinking-and-driving campaigns have led to major improvements in protecting people and improving overall safety. However, more than 6.4 million motor vehicle crashes continue to occur on our highways every year, causing approximately 2.9 million injuries, almost 43,000 fatalities, and costing more than $230 billion per year. Driver error is cited as the primary cause in about 90 percent of all police-reported crashes involving passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses. U.S. DOT analysis shows that the widespread deployment of advanced driver-assistance systems will significantly reduce the number of motor vehicle crashes.

Four U. S. DOT agencies (Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) have partnered with other public and private organizations under the ITS program to conduct the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative (IVI).

In order to achieve the goal of reducing the number of crashes caused by driver error, U.S. DOT has assumed a two-part role. The first is to ensure that safety is not compromised by the introduction of in-vehicle systems. Of particular interest to the IVI Program are the safety impacts of combining multiple systems, such as route guidance and navigation, adaptive cruise control, cellular telephones, and in-vehicle computers. The impact that these systems may have on driver behavior is being investigated by measuring any changes to the level of driver workload and distraction.

The second part of the Federal role in IVI addresses the responsibility for reducing deaths, injuries and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes. This role, which is a cornerstone of U.S. DOT’s overall mission, is being carried out by facilitating the development, deployment, and evaluation of driver-assistance safety products and systems.

Human factors, and how they relate to driver performance, are the fundamental underpinnings of the IVI program. Human factors studies are integrated with other types of studies, such as sensor performance, to create the systems approach to vehicle-based safety improvements. The importance of human factors studies is due in large measure to the fact that the IVI program is charged with helping to find human-centered solutions to the human-centered problem of highway crashes, and the resulting deaths and injuries.

IVI is a problem-based program. An analysis of crash statistics and causal factors resulted in the selection of problem areas with high potential benefit in terms of safety. The solution to these problems will help drivers in three types of situations:

- Normal Driving - The goal of this problem area is to design in-vehicle information systems (navigation, cellular phones, in-vehicle computers) that can be operated safely under normal driving conditions.

- Degraded Conditions - This second area will assist drivers in conditions where the risk of a crash is increased. These include conditions where the environment is degraded, visibility is reduced due to inclement weather, or where the driver's condition is affected by drowsiness.

- Imminent Crash Situations - This area seeks to address situations where a crash will occur unless the system provides specific advice or assumes partial control of the vehicle.

NORMAL DRIVING

In this situation our primary objective is to ensure that safety is not compromised by the introduction of in-vehicle systems. The underlying concept is that crashes may occur if the system encourages dangerous driving behavior. This dangerous behavior can take the form of driver distraction, driver inattention or recognition error. Thus, IVI research seeks to determine if there are changes in driving behavior, and addresses a research question asking, “would this change cause a crash in certain driving environments, and would the driver choose to use the system and exhibit this behavior in a situation that would produce a crash?”

When practiced in a protected environment, such as a driving simulator, each behavior may have no effect on the safety of driving; however, when these behaviors occur in real-time driving environments, crashes can occur. IVI research activities on the implications of in-vehicle technologies on driver behavior are designed to:

- Improve understanding of the nature and extent of the safety problem;
- Develop and apply methods to assess the effects of technology and driver characteristics on driving performance;
- Develop human factors guidelines to aid in equipment design; and
- Develop integrated approaches to reduce distraction from in-vehicle devices.

DEGRADED CONDITIONS

Analysis of the factors that cause crashes has identified a category of IVI systems that enhance driver performance under degraded conditions. Conditions in the environment may be weather-related, such as icy roads, or related to roadway design, such as tight curves. Alternatively, the driver’s own physical condition may be degraded due to fatigue or other factors. The underlying concept is that a crash may occur if the system does not intervene with timely and effective advice. In effect, the system is improving the driver’s understanding of the driving environment and the driver’s own physical condition. Within this area, the following activities are occurring:

- Driver Condition Monitoring; driver fatigue is a factor in 3 to 6 percent of fatal crashes involving large trucks, and fatigue is a factor in 18 percent of single vehicle - large truck fatal crashes;

- Vision Enhancement; a significant factor in 42 percent of all vehicle crashes and additional pedestrian collisions; and

- Vehicle Stability; 50 percent of large truck driver fatalities occur in trucks that roll over.

Future IVI activities will also identify performance capabilities of special driver populations that include older drivers, younger, drivers and disabled drivers. This will link crash experiences with apparent deficiencies, and identify countermeasures that may meet the special needs of these drivers for assistance in crash avoidance.

IMMINENT CRASH SITUATION

Systems that are effective in an imminent crash situation are effective in the final moments before an impending crash. The underlying concept is that a crash will occur if the system does not provide timely and effective advice or assume at least partial control of the vehicle. The Program has analyzed data regarding causal factors contributing to crashes, performed case studies and other research to develop a statistical view of these factors, and identified promising approaches for preventing such crashes. The four crash-type prevention approaches that were identified in this process are:

- Rear-end collision avoidance; approximately 1.7 million police-reported light vehicle crashes per year;
- Road departure crash avoidance; approximately 1.2 million police-reported crashes per year;
- Intersection collision avoidance; approximately 1.9 million police-reported crashes per year; and
- Lane change/merge collision avoidance; approximately 250,000 police-reported crashes per year.

Research activities under the IVI Program are focused on finding effective solutions to the problem of motor vehicle crashes. The process for finding these solutions follows these general steps:

- Identify promising opportunities to help drivers avoid crashes;
- Demonstrate that solutions are feasible; and
- Validate practical solutions on real roads with real drivers.

Benefit estimates are refined at each step as an understanding of the effectiveness of the system improves.

The IVI Program also addresses problem areas in four classes, or platforms, of vehicles. These include light vehicles, commercial vehicles, transit buses, and specialty vehicles. The light vehicle category includes passenger vehicles, light trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles; commercial vehicles are heavy trucks and interstate buses; transit vehicles include all non-rail vehicles operated by transit agencies; and specialty vehicles include emergency response, enforcement, and highway maintenance vehicles. Vehicles have been categorized into these four platforms to improve safety by focusing on the unique problems encountered in their respective environments. The focus on four individual platforms allows the Program to expedite the commercial availability of driver assistance systems across all platform types. Although the greatest number of incidents occur in the light vehicle area, IVI researchers conduct field tests, and quantify the benefits of some systems in the other platform areas before they are ready to be tested on light vehicles. This approach provides a better understanding of the benefits, and enables the program to provide guidance on where best to conduct future research.