Autonomous Vehicles and Vulnerable Road-Users—Important Considerations and Requirements Based on Crash Data from Two Countries

Abstract

(1) Background: Passenger vehicles equipped with advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) functionalities are becoming more prevalent within vehicle fleets. However, the full effects of offering such systems, which may allow for drivers to become less than 100% engaged with the task of driving, may have detrimental impacts on other road-users, particularly vulnerable road-users, for a variety of reasons. (2) Crash data were analysed in two countries (Great Britain and Australia) to examine some challenging traffic scenarios that are prevalent in both countries and represent scenarios in which future connected and autonomous vehicles may be challenged in terms of safe manoeuvring. (3) Road intersections are currently very common locations for vulnerable road-user accidents; traffic flows and road-user behaviours at intersections can be unpredictable, with many vehicles behaving inconsistently (e.g., red-light running and failure to stop or give way), and many vulnerable road-users taking unforeseen risks. (4) Conclusions: The challenges of unpredictable vulnerable road-user behaviour at intersections (including road-users violating traffic or safe-crossing signals, or taking other risks) combined with the lack of knowledge of CAV responses to intersection rules, could be problematic. This could be further compounded by changes to nonverbal communication that currently exist between road-users, which could become more challenging once CAVs become more widespread.

Driver-to-Driver Communication Skills: Contributing Factors to Traffic Accidents on South African Roads?

“…Nevertheless, in the midst of these developments, there remain possible hazards connected to the misinterpretation of existing road communication signals between human-driven vehicles because of a lack of standardization. Numerous studies have examined the safety implications for vulnerable road users, such as bicycles and pedestrians, particularly in light of the advent of autonomous vehicles [20,45,[47][48][49][50]. However, the concept of informal communication is still lacking.…”

“…Thus, closing these communication gaps is essential for preventing trafficrelated problems and promoting more efficient traffic operations. Traffic accidents may result from drivers and autonomous vehicles misinterpreting gestures, signals, or other informal communication forms [46,48,52]. For example, misunderstood signals can cause incorrect moves that result in crashes or near misses on roads.…”

Exploration of the feasibility of steering wheelless cars based on Robotaxi operation data

“…Under the regulations, companies holding autonomous driving test permits issued by the DMV are required to submit an annual report on January 1 each year, including fleet numbers, vehicle details, total mileage tested, total number of disengagements (also known as a "disengagement") and status, etc. [13]. One of the core measures of autonomous driving is the Mean Takeover Mileage (MPI), which is the average mileage driven between each manual takeover, calculated from the total number of miles tested and the number of takeovers throughout the year [14].…”

Research Scenarios of Autonomous Vehicles, the Sensors and Measurement Systems Used in Experiments

“…There is a general consensus that the scenarios of such research should result from the observation of road traffic and drivers' behavior [10][11][12].…”