Driver perception and reaction in collision avoidance: Implications for ADAS development and testing

The quality of an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is limited by the quality of its interaction with the driver. For an efficient human-machine-interaction design, it is necessary to possess a thorough understanding of driver behavior and perception in relevant driving situations. While several previous studies have addressed the topic of driver behavior in regard to collision avoidance in general, this paper examines how situational parameters of a collision avoidance scenario relate to drivers' reactions and perceptions. A driving experiment with a cross traffic obstacle appearing at different speeds and different times-to-collision (TTC) was performed on a test track. While the TTC proved to be the most defining factor for the objective criticality of the situation, drivers' reactions and perceptions were impacted most severely by obstacle movement speed. The implications of these and further findings for ADAS research and development are discussed.