Browsing by Author "Terranova, Paolo"

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    Applicability Assessment of Active Safety Systems for Motorcycles Using Population-Based Crash Data: Cross-Country Comparison among Australia, Italy, and USA
    Terranova, Paolo; Dean, Morgan E.; Lucci, Cosimo; Piantini, Simone; Allen, Trevor J.; Savino, Giovanni; Gabler, Hampton C. (MDPI, 2022-06-21)
    The role of powered two-wheeler (PTW) transport from the perspective of a more sustainable mobility system is undermined by the associated high injury risk due to crashes. Motorcycle-based active safety systems promise to avoid or mitigate many of these crashes suffered by PTW riders. Despite this, most systems are still only in the prototype phase and understanding which systems have the greatest chance of reducing crashes is an important step in prioritizing their development. Earlier studies have examined the applicability of these systems to individual crash configurations, e.g., rear-end vs. intersection crashes. However, there may be large regional differences in the distribution of PTW crash configurations, motorcycle types, and road systems, and hence in the priority for the development of systems. The study objective is to compare the applicability of five active safety systems for PTWs in Australia, Italy, and the US using real-world crash data from each region. The analysis found stark differences in the expected applicability of the systems across the three regions. ABS generally resulted in the most applicable system, with estimated applicability in 45–60% of all crashes. In contrast, in 20–30% of the crashes in each country, none of the safety systems analyzed were found to be applicable. This has important implications for manufacturers and researchers, but also for regulators, which may demand country-specific minimum performance requirements for PTW active safety countermeasures.
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    Characterizing Level 2 Automation in a Naturalistic Driving Fleet
    Perez, Miguel A.; Terranova, Paolo; Metrey, Mariette; Bragg, Haden; Britten, Nicholas (Safe-D University Transportation Center, 2024-01)
    Introducing automation into the vehicle fleet disrupts how vehicles operate and potentially affects what drivers do with these features and expect from vehicle performance. Therefore, it is imperative to study driver adaptations in response to these innovations. This investigation leveraged 47 vehicles from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Level 2 (L2) Naturalistic Driving Study to analyze driver behavior with L2 automation features. Results showed no sizeable differences between periods of L2 feature usage and general driving periods with respect to time-of-day and calendar-related metrics. Most L2 feature usage occurred on motorways, following design expectations. L2 features were activated for 7.2 minutes in trips lasting an average of 22.8 minutes, or about 32% of the L2 trip duration. Driver-initiated overrides were predominantly done by braking or accelerating the vehicle, with steering-based overrides being minimal and likely involving lane changes without using a turn signal. Intervention requests were the most common takeover request, followed by requests due to insufficient driver hand contact with the steering wheel. Findings suggest that as L2 features penetrate the U.S. fleet in non-luxury consumer vehicles, system usage will be common and comparable with previous findings for luxury offerings. While evidence of potential system misuse was observed, future work may further operationalize system misuse and assess the prevalence of such behaviors.
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    Creating a Dataset of Naturalistic Ambulance Driving: A Pilot Study of Two Ambulances
    Valente, Jacob T.; Terranova, Paolo; Perez, Miguel A. (National Surface Transportation Safety Center for Excellence, 2024-08-02)
    Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are an everyday occurrence in the United States. This pressing transportation and health care topic affects millions of citizens each year, and in many cases may result in fatality or lifelong injury complications. Despite best efforts, and notable success, to improve the frequency and severity of MVCs, these events are still a prevalent issue. In the wake of an MVC, crash occupants rely on emergency responders to quickly respond to the scene, control hazards, and administer necessary medical care. Efficiency within the emergency response event, to an MVC or some other medical care need, is contingent on a properly working transportation system, allowing emergency medical services (EMS) to travel to and from scenes both quickly and safely. Previous research has revealed that complex interactions with other road users not only hinders emergency response efficiency, but often results in hazardous and dangerous interactions on roadways. To capture these complex interactions from a firsthand perspective, this report details a naturalistic driving study that involved two ambulances and the subsequent dataset that was generated, which is the first of its kind. A custom data acquisition system was used to collect four external and three internal video perspectives on each vehicle, with continuous vehicle data that included vehicle speed, GPS location, and emergency system activation (i.e., emergency light or siren use). Following data collection, the dataset was summarized in the context of each participating agency, the consented drivers, trip type (emergent vs. non-emergent), trip duration, trip distance, and the time of day that the trip took place. The dataset was also processed through a map-matching algorithm that utilized the collected GPS data to provide additional context, including posted speed limit road classification. Finally, the dataset was subsampled to assess and interpret other road user behavior during emergent trips. The work outlined in this report serves as the foundation for additional research that could be leveraged from this dataset, as this dataset is intended to support the inquiry of future research questions within the scope of emergency vehicle operation and transportation. Additionally, some findings of this study and their implications apply beyond the scope of emergency MVC response and may be related more broadly to emergency response for all first responders and emergency events.