Lane change collision avoidance systems (CAS) are designed to prevent crashes in lane change maneuvers by alerting the driver to hazards in the adjacent lanes of traffic. These systems detect surrounding vehicles that are on the sides and behind the vehicle, notify the driver through warning signals, e.g., a visual symbol in the side or rear view mirrors, and have the potential to reduce the fatalities and injuries associated with these collisions. Currently, these systems are being introduced into new vehicles;​ however, test data of driver performance using them remain limited.

The objective of this research is to examine driver behavior using lane change CAS to determine what leads to the safest driver behavior and to investigate if the use of a lane change CAS with only a proximity warning system (i.e., blind spot detector) provides sufficient warning to drivers. This study considers drivers in two age ranges with comparatively high crash statistics in these types of crashes:​ 16-21 years of age and 65 and older. Simulator test scenarios developed for the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) at the University of Iowa are used to examine and compare five lane change CAS types:​ representative commercially-available proximity warning system, TRW proximity-only CAS system, TRW comprehensive system, a left (driver’s) side convex mirror, and a baseline (standard vehicle mirrors). This paper reports on the evaluation of several lane change CAS types using the NADS. An analysis of results including a comparison of both age ranges and conclusions of the study are presented. Benefits for drivers were found for all systems tested.