Operationalization of Scenario-Based Safety Assessment of Automated Driving Systems

Before introducing an Automated Driving System (ADS) on the road at scale, the manufacturer must conduct some sort of safety assurance. To structure and harmonize the safety assurance process, the UNECE WP.29 Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (GRVA) is developing the New Assessment/Test Method (NATM) that indicates what steps need to be taken for safety assessment of an ADS. In this paper, we will show how to practically conduct safety assessment making use of a scenario database, and what additional steps must be taken to fully operationalize the NATM. In addition, we will elaborate on how the use of scenario databases fits with methods developed in the Horizon Europe projects that focus on safety assessment following the NATM approach.