Automatic Evasion Seen from the Opposing Traffic -- An Investigation with the Vehicle in the Loop

In the field of active safety driver assistance systems, emergency steering interventions are subject to current research initiatives like UR:BAN. On the one hand, such systems can potentially prohibit accidents even if it is too late to brake to a standstill. On the other hand, such interventions with a lateral component introduce new challenges to controllability assessment. Countermeasures to avoid accidents in critical situations can not only be performed by the driver with the system on board, but also by other road users. Hence, a possible approach is the investigation of controllability aspects of emergency steering systems from the perspective of opposing traffic participants. To work out clear limitations for the functional design of these systems due to the accident avoiding capabilities of opposing drivers, relevant functional parameters and driving situations were identified and investigated with 48 naive participants using the Vehicle in the Loop (VIL). The results show that the driving situation has an influence on the drivers' judgment and behavior. Drivers were able to avoid accidents with oncoming evading vehicles by steering and/or braking, if the time gap between the peak of the evasion trajectory and the drivers' vehicle was at least two seconds.