Limerick-based research on driver assistance systems could save thousands of lives

INSTALLING Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) on all cars in Great Britain could reduce car crashes by 24%, researchers based in Limerick and Luxembourg have found.

The researchers from Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software at University of Limerick (UL), Ireland and Motion-S, Luxembourg, also found Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is the most impactful technology.

This reduces three out of the four most frequent accident categories: intersection (by 28%), rear-end (by 27.7%), and pedestrian accidents (by 28.4%). The research team believe similar results could be achieved in Ireland.

Based on publicly-available road safety reports from Great Britain for 2019, the research team estimates that a full deployment of ADAS would reduce accident frequency in Britain by 23.8%, representing an annual decrease of 18,925 accidents.

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Dr Barry Sheehan of Lero at UL stated that the research suggests that introducing ADAS across all vehicles would lower the number of road crashes by almost one quarter (23.8%).

"Furthermore, accidents happening in the two most frequent contexts can be reduced by 29%. That means a reduction of 7,020 accidents on urban roads with clear weather and daylight conditions and 3,472 on rural roads with clear weather and daylight conditions," he said.

Existing research shows that connected and automated vehicles (CAV) are expected to improve road safety substantially, including reducing accident frequency and severity. 

In the UK and the EU, vehicles with ADAS, including Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), are becoming more common.

Although these systems provide considerable societal benefits, this research, published by the journal of Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives (TRIP), has revealed their potential impact on accident numbers across various driving contexts.

Lead author Leandro Masello, Data Scientist at Motion-S and PhD Candidate at the Emerging Risk Group, UL, said that although ADAS provides considerable road safety benefits, its performance is often constrained by challenging conditions, like adverse weather.

“The driving environment affects vehicle dynamics and sensor capabilities. A system that suddenly brakes to avoid a crash will perform better in dry weather conditions than in adverse conditions like heavy rain and ice, which reduce tyre traction and can cause the vehicle to skid," the UL-based author added.