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For a while there, the future of driving looked awfully robotic, like our streets were just a few years from hosting hordes of soul-sucked pods, nary a steering wheel or pedal to be seen. But while Waymo, Cruise, Uber and other outfits working to dump the human driver have struggled to deliver commercially viable fleets […]
New advanced technologies are being integrated into vehicles at an accelerating pace, offering new safety and convenience features to drivers. However, in addition to being complex systems in and of themselves, these technologies stand to change the fundamental nature of the driving task, especially as the systems take on more of the driving responsibilities. Driver […]
Distracted driving related to cell phone usage ranks among the top three causes of fatal crashes on the road. Although forty-eight of 50 U.S. states allow the use of personal devices if operated hands-free and secured in the vehicle, scientific studies have yet to quantify the safety improvement presumed to be introduced by voice-to-text interactions. […]
Fully autonomous vehicles, which would carry out many or all of their functions without the intervention of a driver, may someday bring sweeping social and economic changes and “lead to breakthrough gains in transportation safety.” Motor vehicle crashes caused an estimated 36,560 fatalities in 2018; a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) […]
There are many situations where tacit communication between drivers and pedestrians governs and enhances safety. The goal of this study was to formalize this communication and apply it to the driving strategy of an autonomous vehicle. Toward this, a field study of the interaction between drivers and pedestrians was performed. Vehicles were instrumented to capture […]
In 2008, 292 people were killed and another 18,000 injured when motorists attempted the most dangerous driving stunt permitted outside of a closed-course test track: backing up. Children under age five, who comprise 44% of all backup fatalities, were most likely to pay the price when things went wrong. From the perspective of the engineer, […]
Driverless cars aren’t here yet. More vehicles are incorporating a degree of automation with technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane centering, but the driver will continue to share driving responsibilities for the foreseeable future. In theory, fully automated driving could eliminate the vast majority of crashes, but that level of automation won’t be parked […]
Many young urbanites don’t want to own a car, and unlike earlier generations, they don’t have to rely on mass transit. Instead they treat mobility as a service: when they need to travel significant distances, say, more than 5 miles (8 kilometers), they use their phones to summon an Uber (or a car from a […]
Issue Automated vehicles hold the potential to disrupt our transportation system in the 21st century. Experts predict that vehicles could be fully automated by as early as 2025 or as late as 2035. While vehicle automation may improving safety and efficiency and expanding mobility, the technology could also lead people to drive more often and […]
2019 Forum on the Impact of Vehicle Technologies and Automation on Users – Design and Safety Implications: A Summary Report Published April 2020 Forum Objectives Gather representatives/experts from the research community, government, and industry to discuss issues and identify research needs and critical considerations regarding the design and safety of vehicle technologies and automation Develop […]
