Assessing the Impact on Road Safety of Automated Vehicles: An Infrastructure Inspection-Based Approach

Abstract

How safe will Automated Vehicles (AVs) be? It depends on technologies, vehicles, other road users, and infrastructures. The only certainty is that automated vehicles will not solve all road safety issues. As the penetration of AVs might be much more sudden than road infrastructure modification, the infrastructure revision process should start immediately by then, and road authorities must be ready in turn. This paper presents an approach based on road safety inspections to quantify and compare the expected safety levels for a road section with different combinations of Automated and Conventional Vehicles (CVs). Developed in the framework of the EC project CoEXist, the proposed approach allows for identifying the possible safety issues that may arise when introducing AVs. All safety issues are judged in terms of risk, which is the product of the exposure, the likelihood of the crash, and the severity of the possible consequences. All these aspects are analyzed in different scenarios considering different AV penetration levels and driving logic. The results show a potential risk decrease according to the higher penetration of AVs. Nevertheless, the analysis highlights that safety issues may arise with the introduction of specific AVs’ driving logics.

Estimating the Impacts of AV and CAV and Technologies Transportation Systems for Medium, Long, and Buildout Transportation Planning Horizons

“…Autonomous vehicles (AV) and connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) are poised to change the way households and individuals own, drive, and operate their vehicles and how the transportation system performs and responds to traffic. Their introduction will potentially improve traffic safety [1,2], and roadway operation and capacities [3][4][5]. AVs and CAVs have the potential to increase capacity in traffic streams by reducing vehicle headway, improving reaction times and sensitivity to changing traffic conditions, and promoting a more consistent and efficient flow of traffic.…”

Analysis of Factors Associated with Highway Personal Car and Truck Run-Off-Road Crashes: Decision Tree and Mixed Logit Model with Heterogeneity in Means and Variances Approaches

“…The current focus on addressing road accidents has led to increasing interest in the use of automated vehicles (AVs) as a potential solution. Scholars have highlighted the advantageous features of AVs, such as driving assistance systems and advanced sensors, which contribute to their ability to prevent accidents [3,4]. Moreover, the rise of AVs aligns with the growing popularity of electric vehicles, leading to not only a reduction in road risks but also the promotion of a popularity of electric vehicles, leading to not only a reduction in road risks but also the promotion of a greener environment and the advancement of industry 4.0 technology [5,6].…”