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Adaptive Cruise Control 13072017

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is an active safety technology that uses sensors like radar or cameras to monitor the vehicle ahead and automatically adjust speed to maintain a safe following distance. ACC can help improve safety on high-speed roads by preventing short following distances and helping drivers maintain safe time gaps between vehicles. While ACC may provide individual safety benefits, its full potential is realized when widely adopted across vehicle fleets. Studies of ACC typically examine outcomes related to driver comfort, traffic flow, and longitudinal vehicle control, rather than direct safety impacts.

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46 views

Adaptive Cruise Control 13072017

Adaptive cruise control (ACC) is an active safety technology that uses sensors like radar or cameras to monitor the vehicle ahead and automatically adjust speed to maintain a safe following distance. ACC can help improve safety on high-speed roads by preventing short following distances and helping drivers maintain safe time gaps between vehicles. While ACC may provide individual safety benefits, its full potential is realized when widely adopted across vehicle fleets. Studies of ACC typically examine outcomes related to driver comfort, traffic flow, and longitudinal vehicle control, rather than direct safety impacts.

Uploaded by

ramadan1978
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Adaptive Cruise Control

Please refer to this document as follows: Reed, S. (2017), Adaptive Cruise Control, European
Road Safety Decision Support System, developed by the H2020 project SafetyCube. Retrieved
from www.roadsafety-dss.eu on DD MM YYYY

Important: this document is an “abbreviated synopsis”. The way it was drafted differs from the other
synopses contained in the SafetyCube Decision Support System. In particular, given the absence of
sufficient relevant peer reviewed scientific papers on this topic, the content of this abbreviated synopsis
is not based on the typical literature review process applied within SafetyCube but predominantly on
the knowledge and the expertise of the author(s).
Adaptive Cruise Control

1 Summary
Reed, S., June 2017

1.1 COLOUR CODE: GREY


International literature indicates that adaptive cruise control impacts road safety through
monitoring and maintaining a safe following distance to a vehicle ahead. The outcomes of this
measure are normally recorded in terms of driver comfort or stress, or as an impact on the traffic
flow and performance. Although the topic remit lies within vehicle engineering, the outcomes of
the measure are not commonly reported as such.

1.2 KEYWORDS
Active Technology; Autonomous cruise control; Adaptive cruise control; Vehicle headway; Time to
collision;

1.3 ABSTRACT
Time headway and following distance are major factors for both the overall traffic flow
performance and safety outcomes of a particular road segment. Short following distances and small
time gaps to vehicles ahead affect safety performance as there may not be sufficient time to stop or
avoid another vehicle in the case of an emergency. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) systems can help
to prevent short following distances by monitoring and maintaining a safe following distance to a
vehicle ahead by automatically adjusting vehicle speed. This is particularly helpful in stable driving
conditions, such as motorways and other high speed roads where a vehicle can follow another
vehicle for sometimes extended periods.

1.4 BACKGROUND
1.4.1 What is Adaptive cruise control?
Adaptive cruise control is an active technology that constantly monitors and adapts a vehicle’s
throttle and braking systems to maintain a safe distance to a vehicle ahead. There are many
different forms of ACC from a wide range of vehicle manufacturers however they all operate in
broadly the same way; by using a range of sensing technologies to identify and measure the gap to
a vehicle ahead while simultaneously automatically commanding the release of the throttle pedal
and, potentially by automatically commanding braking. Most systems currently on the market use
Radar, Laser or Stereo video camera systems to detect target vehicles, these systems provide a
variety of benefits depending on the situation, for example speed of processing, system simplicity,
or ability to integrate into a pre-crash system and be augmented with other capabilities. The most
advanced Radar ACC systems can provide information for forward obstacle warning or Advanced
Emergency Braking (AEB) systems enabling them to be integrated fully into the ADAS vehicle
capability. ACC in isolation is primarily offered by vehicle manufacturers as a comfort or
convenience function. The systems can also provide benefits to road systems by increasing capacity
and by maintaining separation between vehicles.

1.4.2 How does adaptive cruise control affect road safety?


Overall adaptive cruise control affects road safety as it can provide support to drivers in maintaining
a safe speed and distance to a vehicle ahead. ACC predominantly affects road safety through
Adaptive Cruise Control

management of the longitudinal control of vehicles travelling on roads where non-motorised


vehicles and pedestrians are restricted or limited (highways for example) and under free-flowing
traffic conditions. When ACC is augmented with other capabilities, such as forward obstacle
warning or AEB the safety effects become clearer however this is covered in other topics. Individual
use of the systems can provide isolated benefits to safety however, the full potential of ACC
systems becomes clearer with large-scale deployment and fleet penetrations across all vehicle
types.

1.4.3 Which safety outcomes are affected by adaptive cruise control?


The measures recorded are normally in terms of comfort (stress levels, trust) or traffic flow metrics
(capacity increase, following distances, time headway, time to collision etc.) and, although
potentially linked to vehicle engineering measures, they are outside the scope of this topic.

1.4.4 How is the effect of adaptive cruise control studied?


In the international literature, adaptive cruise control has mainly been studied through simulations
or simulator studies.

1.5 OVERVIEW RESULTS


The measures recorded are normally in terms of comfort (stress levels, trust) or traffic flow metrics
(capacity increase, following distances, time headway, time to collision etc.) and, although
potentially linked to vehicle engineering measures are outside the scope of this topic.

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