Effects of Traffic-related Environmental Factors on Acceptability and Safety of Truck Platooning for Peripheral Drivers: A Simulator Study

Abstract

Truck platooning is one of the expected systems using automated driving technology based on cooperated adaptive cruise control (CACC) as a solution to problems such as fuel efficiency and lack of driver. To implement the truck platooning system, it is necessary to ensure the safety and acceptability of the system for user and peripheral drivers. In this study, we aim to improve the safety and acceptability of the truck platooning system using a human-machine interface (HMI) to notice the system information. Focusing on the peripheral drivers and traffic density, the hypotheses that communication to peripheral drivers using the HMI improves the safety and acceptability of platooning trucks for peripheral drivers and that traffic density affects them were tested using a driving simulator (DS). We examined driving performance indices and subjective evaluation of peripheral drivers for the scene of merging in highway junction and emergency stop as a minimal risk maneuver. The results showed that early information transmission to peripheral drivers using HMI can improve the safety and acceptability for the peripheral drivers and that high traffic density may weaken the effects of HMI. This suggests that it is necessary to adjust the specification regarding the movement of platooning trucks with consideration for the traffic density on the road.