New achievement for TRAFIKKLAB: Article published on the journal “Accident Analysis & Prevention”

New Insights into Safety of Take-Over Control Mechanisms in Automated Vehicles

Our recent study published in Accident Analysis and Prevention, in cooperation with the researchers from the Road Safety and Simulation Lab from Politecnico di Torino has analyzed the safety and efficiency of different take-over control (TOC) mechanisms in conditionally automated vehicles (CAD). The study involved 30 drivers using our driving simulator to test three TOC methods: accelerating/braking, pressing a button, and steering.

Key Findings:

• Pedal Mechanism: This method provided the fastest and safest takeovers, especially in critical situations requiring quick responses to avoid collisions.
• Button Mechanism: It resulted in the longest TOC times and lowest minimum time to collision (MTTC) values, indicating higher risks due to slower responses.
• Steering Mechanism: Associated with the highest maximum resultant acceleration and TOC times in non-critical situations, suggesting it is more cognitively demanding for drivers.

Implications: The pedal mechanism’s superior performance suggests it should be prioritized in CAD system designs. The study emphasizes the importance of selecting appropriate TOC mechanisms to enhance safety and efficiency.

Participants overwhelmingly preferred the pedal mechanism, reinforcing the study’s findings. Future research should explore multi-modal TOC mechanisms and the impact of non-driving-related tasks on TOC performance.

Do you wanna know more? Reach out to the full paper here