Analysis of the advancements in real-life performance of highly automated vehicles' with regard to the road traffic safety

Motor Transport Institute, Warsaw, Poland

^* Corresponding author: arkadiusz.matysiak@its.waw.pl

Abstract

The article presents the analysis of the performance of the vehicles equipped with automated driving systems (ADS) which were tested in real-life road conditions from 2015 to 2017 in the state of California. It aims at the effort to assess the impact on the road safety the continuous technological advancements in driving automation might have, based on of the first large-scale, real-life test deployments. Vehicle manufacturers and other stakeholders testing the highly automated vehicles in California are obliged to issue yearly reports which provide an insight on the test scale as well as the technology maturity. The so-called 'disengagement reports' highlight the range and number of control takeovers between the ADS and driver, which are made either based on driver's decision or information provided by the vehicle itself. The analysis of these reports allowed to investigate the development made in automated driving technology throughout the years of tests, as well as the direct or indirect influence of the external factors (e.g. various weather conditions) on the ADS performance. The results show that there is still a significant gap in reliability and safety between human drivers and highly automated vehicles which has been yet steadily decreasing due to technology advancements made while driving in the specific infrastructure and traffic conditions of California.