Performance of a Rear-End Crash Avoidance System in a Field Operational Test

This paper characterizes the capability of a rear-end crash avoidance system based on data collected from a field operational test. The system performs forward crash warning and adaptive cruise control functions. The test consists of 66 subjects who drove 10 equipped vehicles on public roads over 157,000 km. System characterization addresses the ability of the forward-looking sensor suite to maintain in-path target tracking and discern between in-path and out-of-path targets; the efficacy of the alert logic in warning the driver to driving conflicts that may lead to rear-end crashes; and the visibility, audibility, and readability of information displayed by the driver-vehicle interface.