Drivers’ Response to Scenarios When Driving Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Compared to Vehicles with and without Driver Assist Technology

Day-of-the-week, time-of-the-day, trip purpose, driving condition (road functional class, speed limit, wet/dry pavement, lighting condition, etc.), vehicle type (car, sports utility vehicle, minivan, light truck, etc.), and driver characteristics (age, gender, and the number of years of driving experience) influence operational and safety performance measures of a transportation facility. At the same time, technological advancements in the automobile industry has led to vehicles with driver assisting collision avoidance systems. It is anticipated that vehicles with and without driver assist technology will be taken over by connected and autonomous vehicles over the next few decades. However, the effect of such advancement in automobile industry on operational and safety performance measures is not yet clear. It is also not clear how drivers would respond to scenarios when driving connected and autonomous vehicles compared to vehicles with and without driver assist technology.

The objective of this research is to collect data and assess drivers’ response to scenarios when driving connected and autonomous vehicles compared to vehicles with and without driver assist technology. The outcomes from this research are anticipated to help define parameters pertaining to drivers’ response by vehicle type and model the effect of different connected and autonomous vehicle penetration rates on operational and safety performance measures of a transportation facility using microscopic traffic simulation software.