Evaluation of a Road-Departure Crash Warning System

TLDR: In this article, the authors present the results of an independent evaluation of the Road-Departure Crash Warning System (RDCW), which is designed to warn drivers when they are drifting out of their lane or about to enter a curve at an unsafe speed.

Abstract: This report presents the results of an independent evaluation of the Road-Departure Crash Warning System (RDCW), which is designed to warn drivers when they are drifting out of their lane or about to enter a curve at an unsafe speed. The RDCW lateral-drift-warning subsystem monitors a vehicle’s lane position and lateral speed, and alerts the driver when the vehicle is in danger of departing the road or lane. The RDCW curve-speed-warning subsystem monitors vehicle speed and upcoming road curvature and alerts the driver when the vehicle is in danger of losing control in an upcoming curve. The goal of the RDCW is to improve automotive safety by helping drivers avoid road-departure crashes, but this can only occur if the system is useful and drivers respond to it. The RDCW Field Operational Test (FOT) collected 130,000 km of driving data from 78 participants to evaluate the performance, driver acceptance, and safety benefits of the RDCW. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute conducted the test. Visteon Corporation built the FOT vehicles and Assistware Corporation developed the RDCW lateral-drift-warning subsystem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) sponsored the FOT to determine if the RDCW will help reduce road-departure crashes in the United States. The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center of the U.S. DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, under agreement with NHTSA, independently evaluated the RDCW.