The Effect of Lane Departure Warning Systems on Cross-Centerline Crashes

Cross-centerline crashes occur rarely in the United States but are especially severe. This type of crash is characterized by one vehicle departing over a centerline and encountering a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction. In recent years, automakers have started developing and implementing lane departure warning (LDW) on newer vehicles. This system provides the potential to reduce or significantly impact the frequency of cross-centerline crashes. The objective of this thesis was to estimate the potential crash and injury benefits of a LDW system if installed on every vehicle in the US fleet.

This research includes the following 1) a characterization of cross-centerline crashes in the United States today with current and future prevention methods, 2) a reconstruction methodology used for all crashes including rollovers and heavy vehicles, and 3) a simulation model and approach method used to estimate potential benefits of LDW systems on cross-centerline crashes.

Cross over to left crashes account for only 4% of non-junction non-interchange crashes but account for 44% of serious injury crashes of the same type. As part of this research, 42 crosscenterline crashes were reconstructed and simulated as if they had a LDW system installed. Accounting for driver capability to react to a LDW alert, crash reduction benefits ranged from 22 – 30%.Using injury risk curves, the probability of experiencing a MAIS2+ injury in a crosscenterline crash was reduced by 29% when using a LDW system.

Keywords: vehicle safety; active safety; opposite direction crashes; lane keeping

Year	Entry
2007	Sharma D, Stern S, Brophy J, Choi E-H. An overview of NHTSA’s crash reconstruction software WinSMASH. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.
2006	Dingus TA, Klauer SG, Neale VL, Petersen A, Lee SE, Sudweeks J, Perez MA, Hankey J, Ramsey D, Gupta S, Bucher C, Doerzaph ZR, Jermeland J, Knipling RR. The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study: Phase II – Results of the 100-Car Field Experiment. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; April 2006. Report No. DOT HS 810 593.
2001	Hershman LL. The U.S. new car assessment program (NCAP): past, present and future. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
2015	Gabler HC, Weaver AA, Stitzel JD. Automotive field data in injury biomechanics. In: Yoganandan N, Nahum AM, Melvin JW, eds. Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention. 3rd ed. New York: Springer; 2015:33-49.
2010	Hampton CE, Gabler HC. Evaluation of the accuracy of NASS/CDS delta-V estimates from the enhanced winsmash algorithm. In: 54th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 17-20, 2010; Las Vegas, NV.241-251.
2008	Newland C, Belcher T, Bostrom O, Gabler HC, Cha J-G, Wong HL, Tylko S, Dal Nevo R. Occupant-to-occupant interaction and impact injury risk in side impact crashes. Stapp Car Crash J. 2008;52:327-347. SAE 2008-22-0013.
2006	Gabauer DJ, Gabler HC. Comparison of delta-v and occupant impact velocity crash severity metrics using event data recorders. In: 50th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 16-18, 2006; Chicago, IL.57-71.
2008	Gabauer DJ, Gabler HC. Comparison of roadside crash injury metrics using event data recorders. Accid Anal Prev. March 2008;40(2):548-558.
2014	Rizzi M, Kullgren A, Tingvall C. Injury crash reduction of low‐speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) on passenger cars. In: Proceedings of the 2014 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Injury. September 10-12, 2014; Berlin, Germany.656-665.
2003	Farmer CM. Reliability of police-reported information for determining crash and injury severity. Traffic Inj Prev. 2003;4(1):38-44.
2006	Niehoff P, Gabler HC. The accuracy of winsmash delta-v estimates: the influence of vehicle type, stiffness, and impact mode. In: 50th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 16-18, 2006; Chicago, IL.73-89.
2011	Van Auken RM, Zellner JW, Silberling JY, Sugimoto Y, Urai Y. Progress report on evaluation of a pre-production head-on crash avoidance assist system using an extended "safety impact methodology" (SIM). In: Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 13-16, 2011; Washington, DC.
2015	Scanlon JM, Kusano KD, Sherony R, Gabler HC. Potential safety benefits of lane departure warning and prevention systems in the U.S. vehicle fleet. In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
2007	Gabler HC. The risk of fatality in motorcycle crashes with roadside barriers. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.
2015	Zellner JW, Van Auken RM, Silberling JY, Kelly J, Hagoski BK, Sugimoto Y, Urai Y. Evaluation of a pre-production head-on crash avoidance assist system using an extended "Safety Impact Methodology" (SIM). In: Proceedings of the 24th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 8-11, 2015; Gothenburg, Sweden.
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2011	Jermakian JS. Crash avoidance potential of four passenger vehicle technologies. Accid Anal Prev. May 2011;43(3):732-740.
2009	Hampton CE, Gabler HC. NASS/CDS delta-V estimates: the influence of enhancements to the WinSmash crash reconstruction code. In: 53rd Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 5-7, 2009; Baltimore, MD.91-102.
2016	Johnson TR. Fleetwide Models of Lane Departure Warning and Prevention Systems in the United States [Master's thesis]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; December 7, 2016.

Year

Entry

2007

Sharma D, Stern S, Brophy J, Choi E-H. An overview of NHTSA’s crash reconstruction software WinSMASH. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 18-21, 2007; Lyon, France.

2006

Dingus TA, Klauer SG, Neale VL, Petersen A, Lee SE, Sudweeks J, Perez MA, Hankey J, Ramsey D, Gupta S, Bucher C, Doerzaph ZR, Jermeland J, Knipling RR. The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study: Phase II – Results of the 100-Car Field Experiment. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; April 2006. Report No. DOT HS 810 593.

2001

Hershman LL. The U.S. new car assessment program (NCAP): past, present and future. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV). June 4-7, 2001; Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

2015

Gabler HC, Weaver AA, Stitzel JD. Automotive field data in injury biomechanics. In: Yoganandan N, Nahum AM, Melvin JW, eds. Accidental Injury: Biomechanics and Prevention. 3rd ed. New York: Springer; 2015:33-49.

2010

Hampton CE, Gabler HC. Evaluation of the accuracy of NASS/CDS delta-V estimates from the enhanced winsmash algorithm. In: 54th Annual Proceedings, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine (AAAM). October 17-20, 2010; Las Vegas, NV.241-251.