DRIVE C2X methodology framework

DRIVE C2X 29/09/2011
1.4 Field Operational Tests
The origin of Field Operational Tests stems from the need to assess the impact of various road
traffic safety measures on driver behaviour and safety – as actually is the case to a large extent with
the DRIVE C2X approach too. The first large-scale FOTs were carried out in the USA and the Nordic
Countries in the late 1980’s and the early 1990’s. The topics of these tests ranged from assessing the
impact of new types of road markings, different types of tyres and ISA (Intelligent Speed
Adaptation) and in-vehicle terminals on driver behaviour and risk taking. These pioneering activities
included also extensive development of measurement methodology and methods.
Perhaps the most sophisticated approach was the introduction of unobtrusive (non-invasive)
instrumented vehicles in the 1990’s [15, 16, 19]. These vehicles looked just like ordinary cars but had
all the measuring instruments and cameras hidden to minimize the bias caused by the visible
equipment and experiment. The subjects were performing the tests alone, and a cover task was
given to them to conceal the original purpose of the tests – to be later revealed to them. Even the
determination of precise lateral positioning of the vehicle (off-line) was possible at that time. In later
versions the data collected was transferred wirelessly to the experiment leader.
By means of dedicated approaches long-term impacts of various measures on behaviour were
studied. These tests were at best about 1,5 years in duration. Overall, the known number of such
long-term tests is small
Development of ICT functions and systems for mobility and transport such as intelligent vehicle
safety systems have been largely driven by technology interest and possibilities. Recent pilots and
demonstrations have concentrated on assessing the technical performance and user acceptance of
the system either as prototypes or preliminary versions or service in a small scale. There is still a
great demand for facts on the short- and especially long-term impacts of the systems on travel and
traffic behaviour, the related transport system effects on safety, flow, efficiency and environment,
and the overall social and business impacts of the services and systems in a large-scale deployment.
In addition, all stakeholders want to know with sufficient reliability the long-term acceptance and
willingness-to-pay for the systems by ordinary users.
Field Operational Tests are now recognized as the most powerful method to provide these facts as
in FOTs a large number of participants use the systems and services in their daily lives in real driving
conditions. In addition to the evaluation of effects, benefits and costs, FOTs are very useful in
verifying the technical performance of the systems in large-scale deployments and in guiding the
development of driver assistance functions.
As mentioned above, FOTs have been used quite long in the USA to evaluate the technical
performance and user acceptance but recently also the effects of various intelligent vehicle safety
systems. These FOTs have dealt e.g. with collision avoidance systems, technologies for hazardous
material transport, Intelligent Cruise Control and tracking the behaviour of the drivers in daily
driving situations. In Japan before entering the overseas market, the vehicle manufacturers often
utilise the home market as a gigantic FOT for the early evaluation of new systems such as collision
warning, drowsiness monitoring, and vehicle to infrastructure communication based services. In
Australia tests with the SafeCar (with Intelligent Speed Adaptation, Following Distance Warning,
Seatbelt Reminder and Reverse Collision Warning) were carried out for the period of one year.
Large-scale testing of intelligent vehicle systems with ordinary drivers in traffic has been rare in
Europe so far. The most noteworthy of these tests have dealt with speed alert and adaptation
systems, where the largest tests were carried out in Sweden with 5 000 vehicles and over 10 000
drivers. The other tests with speed alert and adaptation systems in the UK, the Netherlands, France,
Finland and Belgium were much smaller with clearly less than hundred drivers and vehicles each.
The recent Dutch FOT on Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Departure Warning included only 20
vehicles. All of aforementioned large-scale tests have focused on the ADAS-type functions.
Deliverable D22.1 Version 1.0 12
DRIVE C2X methodology framework