Measuring safety benefits of a connected cruise control–equipped vehicle in a connected road environment

This study examines the safety impacts of introducing a connected cruise control–equipped vehicle with a collision warning system using a driving simulator. The collision warning system serves to alert drivers to downstream collisions. Various scenarios were designed, taking into account factors like message content, delivery method, and vehicle-to-vehicle connectivity range. To determine the effects of connected cruise control, surrogate safety indicators, such as speed and time headway variabilities, minimum time to collision, and maximum braking, were examined. Additionally, the study identified tailgaters, individuals prone to rear-end collisions, using a newly developed rear-end accident risk index. Further, the association of driver characteristics with their car-following behaviour was tested using ANOVA. The findings revealed that in the connected environment, safety metrics exhibited reduced mean values compared to the non-connected environment. The risk index effectively detected tailgating behaviour when specific thresholds were applied. Moreover, interesting findings were observed in the ANOVA analysis.