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Browsing by Author "Llaneras, Robert E."

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    Behavioral Indicators of Drowsy Driving: Active Search Mirror Checks
    Meyer, Jason E.; Llaneras, Robert E. (SAFE-D: Safety Through Disruption National University Transportation Center, 2022-07)
    Driver impairment due to drowsiness or fatigue has a significant impact on the safety of all road users. Assessing an impairment such as driver drowsiness through the use of vehicle-based technology continues to be an area of interest. Both the initial detection and continued monitoring of driver drowsiness have been the emphasis of vehicle-based driver monitoring systems (DMS). Particularly, in-vehicle eye tracking systems have been implemented as a way of determining driver state. Specifically, when hands-free driving assistance features are engaged, measures such as the driver’s percentage of eye closure (PERCLOS) are being considered to determine driver drowsiness. However, one challenge of such a metric is its reliability, particularly with regard to false alarms (when a DMS indicates the driver is drowsy but in fact is not). Therefore, the use of more gross-level driver behavioral measures may serve as a way of cross-checking the assessments of a DMS. This work mined an available dataset in order to examine driver search behavior, with the goal of identifying relationships between driver vigilance and drowsy driving, to test the hypothesis that driver search behavior (e.g., mirror checks) degrades with increasing levels of drowsiness. Based on a statistical comparison of participant driving data encompassing instances of alert, moderately drowsy, and drowsy driving, no significant differences were observed among these three classifications.
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    Lane Change Hazard Analysis Using Radar Traces to Identify Conflicts and Time-To-Collision Measures
    Guduri, Balachandar; Llaneras, Robert E. (Safe-D National UTC, 2023-01-30)
    This project analyzed existing data and assessed the safety equivalency of prototype video-based camera systems to support Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 rulemaking efforts and investigate camera-based side view systems. The researchers mined an existing set of radar data surrounding real-world lane change events. The study was performed in Southwest Virginia using 36 drivers experiencing both conventional and camera-based systems over a month-long naturalistic exposure period (2 weeks conventional, 2 weeks camera-based). Study vehicles were instrumented with a data acquisition system to capture and record time-synchronized video and parametric measures from key-on through key-off (i.e., the entirety of each trip). Analyses focused on potential lane change conflicts and hazards identified using time-to-collision values (which in turn were derived from rear-mounted radar units) surrounding signalized lane change events. Results provided no compelling evidence to suggest that camera-based systems adversely affected lane change performance to lead to riskier or more hazardous lane changes compared to conventional mirror systems. Results instead suggested that camera-based systems, when appropriately designed, can help drivers detect potential conflicts because of the wider field of view afforded by these systems, enabling drivers to assess the presence of a vehicle in the target lane.