Prediction of the expected accident scenario of future Level 2 and Level 3 cars on German motorways

Liers, Henrik; Unger, Thomas

Affiliations

¹Verkehrsunfallforschung an der TU Dresden (VUFO) GmbH

Abstract and keywords

According to the SAE J3016 definitions, modern vehicles already include functionalities, which fulfill the criteria of Level 2 automation. The first applications of Level 3 automation in vehicles will probably include motorway scenarios only. The research question of this paper is an analysis of the current accident scenario on German motorways and its potential change due to Level 2 and Level 3 automation. Beside the field of effect, possible blind spots of automated cars can be identified. As the traffic behavior on motorways is depending on the vehicle fleet, modal split, traffic densities, and maybe legislative decisions, several scenarios are evaluated.

The study uses more than 1.000 motorway accidents out of database of the German In-depth Accident Study (GIDAS) that happened between 2005 and 2018 involving a passenger car. The results are extrapolated to the German national accident situation (approx. 19.000 accidents, 31.000 casualties, 270 fatalities). The results show that systems in Level 2 cars already address most motorway scenarios. Level 3

functionalities will lead to still more safety in terms of reduced accidents. However, even Level 3 cars will be involved in accidents. The study shows which requirements for passive safety systems can be expected for these cars on motorways. The first Level 3 applications lead to more safety on motorways by mainly reducing rear-end collisions and accidents in lane change maneuvers. Current Level 2 systems will already address many critical situations.

Keywords: Accident research; Automated driving; GIDAS; Motorway assistance; Scenarios

Links

URL: http://www.ircobi.org/wordpress/downloads/irc19/pdf-files/14.pdf

Cited Works (2)

Year	Entry
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2022	Gepner BD, Perez-Rapela D, Forman JL, Ostling M, Pipkorn B, Kerrigan JR. Evaluation of GHBMC, THUMS and SAFER human body models in frontal impacts in reclined postures. In: Proceedings of the 2022 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 14-16, 2022; Porto, Portugal.116-143.
2024	Fei J, Liu Y, Wang P, Yang X, Li Z, Zhang L, Wang Q, Wan X. Comparison of responses between human body model and anthropomorphic test device model in reclined postures. In: Proceedings of the 2024 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 11-13, 2024; Stockholm, Sweden.682-694.
2020	Gepner BD, Rawska K, Kerrigan JR. Occupant response in frontal, oblique and side impacts in highly automated vehicles environment. In: Proceedings of the 2020 International IRCOBI Asia Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. 2020; Beijing, China.114-117.