FMCSA Safety and Security Accomplishments

Office of Research and Analysis
Washington, DC
January 22, 2006

Lane Departure Warning Systems and Deployment

Amy Houser
Program Manager, Technology Division

Roadway Departures

• Crashes resulting from simply leaving the roadway represent a substantial portion of the total crash problem
• Occur on both straight and curved sections
• Often involve either rollover of the vehicle or collisions with fixed objects such as trees, utility poles, etc.
• 13,000 roadway departure crashes involving large trucks occurred in 2003 (General Estimates System)

Lane Departure Warning Systems

• Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS)
  • Camera surveys road ahead – not driver
  • Tracks road and vehicle position in lane
  • Monitors weaving and lane drifts
  • Alerts driver before lane and road departures
• Blocks warnings automatically
  • Turn signal is used
  • Speed is less than threshold (approximately 35 mph)
• Warning functions disabled
  • Poor visibility
  • Not well-defined lane boundaries
  • Poor confidence in lane position calculation

Mack Intelligent Vehicle Initiative

• McKenzie Tank Lines
  • Hazardous materials haulers operating out of multiple Gulf Coast States
  • Drivers assigned to specific trucks
  • Destinations varied daily

Under FOT Conditions, the Lane Departure Warning System reduces crashes

• 21% to 23% reduction in single vehicle roadway departure crashes
• 17% to 24% reduction in rollover crashes
• Improves safety-related driving behavior by decreasing unintended lane excursions
• Economically justified for tractor-tanker applications

Assistware SafeTRAC LDWS

• Video Image Interpretation
  • Lane position
  • Road curvature
  • Lane boundary type
  • Time to Lane Crossing
• Lane Departure Warning
  • Audible tone issued

IVI Field Operational Testing

• Lane Departure Warning Systems
• Roll Stability Systems and Electronic Stability Systems
• Collision Warning Systems with Adaptive Cruise Control

Top Purchasing Factors

• System accuracy and reliability
• System effectiveness
• Cost, including installation, maintenance, and driver training
• Availability of vendor or OEM technical support
• System availability from OEMs in new equipment
• Protection of recorded vehicle data
• Ability to monitor driver behavior via on-board data

A Tall Order . . .

Deployment Planning

• Develop plans to facilitate the deployment of technology by the industry
  • Establish partnership opportunities with stakeholders
  • Support decision-making with additional information
  • Develop voluntary requirements
  • Compute industry costs and benefits
  • Assess technology adoption

Voluntary Requirements

• Relay a better understanding of how technology functions
  • Concept of operations
  • Operational functionality
  • System features
• Requirements walkthrough
  • System suppliers and OEMs
• Expert panel requirements review
  • Representatives from insurance companies, carriers, academia, and industry associations

Industry Collaboration

• Technology Maintenance Council (TMC)
  • Self-supporting unit of the American Trucking Associations (ATA)
  • Address the operations and technology needs of the trucking industry
  • Provide technical information for specifications and maintenance of commercial vehicles and equipment
• Working with FMCSA to provide industry information and perspectives about on-board safety systems
• Developing recommended practices for on-board safety systems

Costs and Benefits

• Industry demographics
• Crash types and costs
  • Damages: vehicle, cargo, personal, and infrastructure
• Costs
  • Technology, installation, maintenance, and training
• Benefits
  • Direct benefits: savings accrued through crash avoidance
  • Indirect benefits: savings accrued through other means, such as improved customer goodwill and employee morale
• Net present value

What's Next?

Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems

• Integrate systems to optimize the effectiveness of new driver safety systems
• Address rear-end collisions, run-off road crashes, and lane change/merge collisions, which account for about 63% of all heavy vehicle crashes
• Conduct human factors research
  • Determine the best types of in-cab environments
  • Minimize driver distraction and workload

Thank you for your attention!

Contact Information:
Amy Houser
Amy.Houser@fmcsa.dot.gov
(202) 385-2382