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Browsing by Author "Noble, Alexandria M."

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Analysis of Run-off-road Safety-critical Events in Virginia
    Turturici, Marissa; Noble, Alexandria M.; Klauer, Charlie (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2021-05-27)
    Run-off-road (ROR) crashes account for a large proportion of fatalities on U.S. roadways. ROR crashes usually involve a single vehicle and occur when the vehicle departs the roadway and then strikes an object. The research presented here analyzed data from three sources: police-reported data from ROR crashes involving teens in Virginia, and data from two naturalistic driving studies conducted with teens in Virginia (the Supervised Practice Driving Study and the Driver Coach Study). The data from the police reports were provided by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). The two datasets were heterogeneous in terms of the method of data collection and types of ROR events that comprised the majority of cases (e.g., crashes vs. near-crashes). However, results showed several commonalities in ROR events involving teens and the characteristics of these events. For example, most ROR events occurred on dry roads for both datasets. In addition, ROR events were most common on straight roads with level alignment for both datasets. Finally, both datasets showed the highest proportion of ROR events in daylight, followed by darkness without lighting. Speeding was a common driver behavior noted in both datasets but was more common for the naturalistic dataset. Driver secondary tasks were difficult to compare across datasets because police reports often report no secondary task engagement or that it was not applicable to the case, whereas naturalistic driving data allows direct observation of secondary task engagement. Thus, in the DMV data, when secondary task engagement was observed, the most common task was using a cell phone, whereas the naturalistic data showed that talking with a passenger was most common.
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    Connected Motorcycle System Performance
    Viray, Reginald; Noble, Alexandria M.; Doerzaph, Zachary R.; McLaughlin, Shane B. (Connected Vehicle/Infrastructure University Transportation Center (CVI-UTC), 2016-01-15)
    This project characterized the performance of Connected Vehicle Systems (CVS) on motorcycles based on two key components: global positioning and wireless communication systems. Considering that Global Positioning System (GPS) and 5.9 GHz Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) may be affected by motorcycle rider occlusion, antenna mounting configurations were investigated. In order to assess the performance of these systems, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute’s (VTTI) Data Acquisition System (DAS) was utilized to record key GPS and DSRC variables from the vehicle’s CVS Vehicle Awareness Device (VAD). In this project, a total of four vehicles were used where one motorcycle had a forward mounted antenna, another motorcycle had a rear mounted antenna, and two automobiles had centermounted antennas. These instrumented vehicles were then subject to several static and dynamic test scenarios on closed test track and public roadways to characterize performance against each other. Further, these test scenarios took into account motorcycle rider occlusion, relative ranges, and diverse topographical roadway environments. From the results, both rider occlusion and approach ranges were shown to have an impact on communications performance. In situations where the antenna on the motorcycle had direct lineof-sight with another vehicle’s antenna, a noticeable increase in performance can be seen in comparison to situations where the line of sight is occluded. Further, the forward-mounted antenna configuration provided a wider span of communication ranges in open-sky. In comparison, the rear-mounted antenna configuration experienced a narrower communication range. In terms of position performance, environments where objects occluded the sky, such as deep urban and mountain regions, relatively degraded performance when compared to open sky environments were observed.
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    Crowd-sourced Connected-vehicle Warning Algorithm using Naturalistic Driving Data
    Noble, Alexandria M.; McLaughlin, Shane B.; Doerzaph, Zachary R.; Dingus, Thomas A. (2014-08-25)
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    Driver Training Research and Guidelines for Automated Vehicle Technology
    Manser, Michael P.; Noble, Alexandria M.; Machiani, Sahar Ghanipoor; Shortz, Ashley; Klauer, Charlie; Higgins, Laura L.; Ahmadi, Alidad (SAFE-D: Safety Through Disruption National University Transportation Center, 2019-07)
    The advent of advanced driver-assistance systems presents the opportunity to significantly improve transportation safety. Complex sensor-based systems within vehicles can take responsibility for tasks typically performed by drivers, thus reducing driver-related error as a source of crashes. While there may be a reduction in driver errors, these systems fundamentally change the driving task from manual control to supervisory control. A significant challenge, given this fundamental change in the driving task, is that there are no established methods to train drivers on the use of these systems, which may be counterproductive to safety improvements. The aim of the project was to develop training protocol guidelines that could be used by advanced driver-assistance system trainers to optimize driving safety. The guidelines were developed based on the results of three activities that included the development of a taxonomy of the knowledge and skills necessary to operate advanced driver-assistance systems, a driving simulator study that examined the effectiveness of traditional training protocols, and a test track study that examined the efficacy of a vehicle-based training protocol. Results of both studies suggest that differing training protocols are most beneficial in terms of driver cognitive load and visual scanning as opposed to short-term changes in performance.
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    Mobile User Interface Development for the Virginia Connected Corridors
    Mollenhauer, Michael A.; Noble, Alexandria M.; Doerzaph, Zachary R. (Connected Vehicle/Infrastructure University Transportation Center, 2016-10-15)
    The purpose of this research and development activity was to build a mobile application with a low-distraction user interface appropriate for use in a connected vehicle (CV) environment. To realize their full potential, future CV applications will involve communicating information to and from drivers during vehicle operation. Mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets may be a reasonable hardware platform to provide this communication. However, there are concerns that a potential increase in driver interaction with CV applications may lead to driver distraction and possible negative impacts on driving safety. The prototype mobile device user interface that was designed and created during this project can be used to test new CV applications, validate their impact on driver safety, and inform future mobile device user interface standards for driving applications.
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    Safety, Operational, and Energy Impacts of In-Vehicle Adaptive Stop Displays Using Connected Vehicle Technology
    Noble, Alexandria M. (Virginia Tech, 2015-01-23)
    Driving through an un-signalized intersection creates multiple opportunities for missed or misunderstood information. Stop signs, in particular, can be stolen, covered by vegetation, or rotated out of place, leading to an absence of information, contributing to inappropriate decision-making and crashes. Stop controlled intersections have also been shown to be a source of unnecessary delay and emissions due to their frequent, often inappropriate use. Using connected vehicle technology, it is possible to place an electronic stop sign within the vehicle that tells the driver to stop when a conflict in the intersection is imminent, thus reducing the probability of missed information by the driver, and decreasing the amount of unnecessary delay, fuel consumption, and emissions. Before implementing any new technology, it is important to assess it from both a transportation engineering and human factors standpoint to assess the value of the system. The objective of this study was to assess several key benefits of an adaptive in-vehicle stop display as well as to determine if there are any negative safety implications with the use of this system. This assessment was accomplished through a test track experiment where participants experienced conditions where a standard R1-1 stop sign was displayed on the in-vehicle display, as well as an experimental sign, which informed them to proceed through the intersection with caution. Data collected from in-vehicle sensors was analyzed, and results indicate that the implementation of this technology reduces delay, decreases fuel consumption, and does not instigate any safety decrements.
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    Safety, Operational, and Energy Impacts of In-vehicle Adaptive Stop Displays Using Connected Vehicle Technology
    Noble, Alexandria M. (Connected Vehicle/Infrastructure University Transportation Center (CVI-UTC), 2015-07-30)
    Un-signalized intersections create multiple opportunities for missed or misunderstood information. Stop sign-controlled intersections have also been shown to be a source of delay and emissions due to their frequent, often inappropriate use. By using connected vehicle technology, it is possible to place electronic stop signs at more conspicuous locations that can communicate with the in-vehicle systems. Then, if a conflict is imminent at an intersection, the vehicle’s system alerts the driver, thus reducing the probability of missed information, as well as decreasing the amount of unnecessary delay, fuel consumption, and emissions by only prompting a stop when a conflict is present. Before implementing any new technology, it is important to assess it from both a transportation engineering and human factors standpoint to determine the value of such a system. The objective of this study was to assess perceived benefits of an adaptive in-vehicle stop display and to determine if there were any negative safety implications with the use of this system. This was accomplished through a test track experiment with 49 participants. These drivers were presented with a standard R1-1 stop sign on the in-vehicle display, as well as an experimental sign, which informed them to proceed through the intersection with caution. Results indicate the implementation of this technology reduces delay, decreases fuel consumption, and does not instigate any safety decrements.