Institute of Psychology and Education, Department Human Factors, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Institute of Psychology and Education, Department Human Factors, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
Accid Anal Prev. 2022 Aug;173:106691. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106691. Epub 2022 Jun 3.
To ensure road safety in mixed traffic, automated vehicles (AVs) must be equipped with distinct and easy-to-understand communication strategies. For this, the communication design of AVs might be oriented toward implicit communication between manually driven vehicles. This research focused on how drivers interpret observable vehicle behavior (vehicle trajectory) to predict vehicle intentions and planned maneuvers. In addition, the processing and interpretation of contradictory cues were examined as a possible cause for misunderstandings and failed coordination. Two video-based experiments investigated the presumed intention (yielding or insisting on priority), intention recognition time, distinctiveness, and cooperativeness of a vehicle's implicit communication at narrow road passages. For this, two vehicles approached a bottleneck from opposite sides, and only one vehicle could pass at a time. The driving behavior of the oncoming vehicle consisted of longitudinal (decelerating, stopping, accelerating, maintaining speed) and lateral movements (driving to the center, driving to the edge of the road, no lateral deviation) at different timings (early, late). The results indicated advantages of lateral vehicle movements for distinct intention communication. Lateral movements were interpreted the fastest, perceived more distinct, and were more decisive for the presumed intention than longitudinal movements. Early communication was preferred by drivers but increased the intention recognition time, especially for longitudinal movements. However, early lateral communication was interpreted as fast as late longitudinal communication. Furthermore, lateral and longitudinal vehicle movements within a driving pattern that contradicted each other led to ambiguous perceptions. For AVs, early distinct communication via lateral vehicle movement is recommended. Minimizing ambiguity in the interpretation of communication cues might maximize the probability of the safest response from human drivers and contribute to accident prevention in mixed traffic.
为了确保混合交通中的道路安全，自动驾驶车辆（AV）必须配备清晰易懂的通信策略。为此，AV 的通信设计可能需要面向手动驾驶车辆之间的隐式通信。本研究重点关注驾驶员如何通过观察车辆行为（车辆轨迹）来预测车辆意图和计划的动作。此外，还研究了处理和解释相互矛盾的线索的方法，因为这些线索可能是误解和协调失败的原因。两个基于视频的实验研究了在狭窄的道路通道中，车辆隐式通信的假定意图（让路或坚持优先通行）、意图识别时间、独特性和协作性。为此，两辆车从相反方向接近瓶颈，只有一辆车可以一次通过。迎面而来的车辆的驾驶行为包括纵向（减速、停车、加速、保持速度）和横向运动（驶向道路中央、驶向道路边缘、无横向偏离），且在不同的时间（早期、晚期）发生。结果表明，横向车辆运动在明确意图通信方面具有优势。横向运动的解释速度最快，感知最明显，对假定意图的决定性比纵向运动更强。驾驶员更喜欢早期的通信，但这会增加意图识别时间，尤其是对于纵向运动。然而，早期的横向通信与晚期的纵向通信一样被快速解释。此外，在相互矛盾的驾驶模式中，横向和纵向车辆运动导致了模糊的感知。对于 AV 而言，建议通过横向车辆运动进行早期清晰的通信。最小化通信线索解释的歧义性可能会最大限度地提高人类驾驶员做出最安全反应的概率，并有助于预防混合交通中的事故。
