IDENTIFICATION OF DYNAMICALLY-DISTINCT PRECRASH SCENARIOS FOR CRASH AVOIDANCE RESEARCH

This paper identifies dynamically-distinct precrash scenarios for crash avoidance research, based on an examination of precrash variable data elements in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data bases. Derivation of precrash scenarios across all crash types is critical to the development, effectiveness estimation, testing, and evaluation of crash avoidance systems. This paper derives all possible dynamic precrash scenarios that can be obtained from the combination of two precrash variables: pre-event movement and critical precrash event. Based on this analysis, it was found that a total of 1,325 dynamically-distinct precrash scenarios can be defined from the two precrash variables for both one-and two-vehicle crashes. In addition, this paper presents preliminary results of a data analysis of the 1993 Crashworthiness Data System to identify the most frequently occurring precrash scenarios.