Field Operational Tests - Evaluating Driver-Assistance Systems Under Real World Conditions

This paper reviews the field operational test (FOT) methodology adopted in recent years for the evaluation of driver-assistance systems. The Road Departure Crash Warning System program is used both for illustration and as a case study. This project involved an extensive field operational test of a driver-assistance system using volunteers from the general public who drove instrumented research vehicles in place of their normal cars. Objective and subjective data were collected in these trials, and comparisons were made between driving behavior under conditions where the systems were either enabled or disabled. This paper presents sample results from the analyses and draws conclusions on the strengths and weaknesses of the FOT method.