Expanded Research and Development of an Enhanced Rear Signaling System for Commercial Motor Vehicles

https://doi.org/10.21949/15026522014PDFTech ReportFMCSA-RRT-13-009DTMC75-07-D-00006Commercial vehiclesHeavy duty trucksRear end collisionsCrash avoidance systemsRear lightingField testsNight visibilityBrightnessUnited StatesUnited States. Department of Transportation. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Office of Analysis, Research, and TechnologySchaudt, William A.Bowman, Darrell S.Stone, Scott R.Perez, Matthew C.Virginia Tech Transportation InstituteUnited States Federal Motor Carrier Safety AdministrationThe purpose of the current study was to further develop and refine the prototype Enhanced Rear Signaling (ERS)system that was developed during the previous Phase III effort. Expanded development efforts for the ERS systemincluded modification of the system into a unit designed for simple commercial motor vehicle (CMV) installation,collision-warning activation refinements, and rear lighting brightness adjustments for nighttime conditions. Duringthe ERS system development process, the team successfully completed necessary modifications for improved CMVinstallation. Formal closed test-track and real-world testing were then performed to determine the ERS systemcollision-warning activation performance. Ultimately, the ERS system performed with a 100 percent correctdetection rate and an 85.43 percent correct rejection rate during real-world testing. During all ERS systemactivations, no unsafe following vehicle driver reactions/behaviors were observed, indicating a promising system forfollow-on research. A nighttime brightness level was selected at the conclusion of a ratings study and carried on intonighttime real-world testing. During ERS system nighttime activations, there were also no unsafe following-vehicledriver reactions/behaviors observed. Overall, the research team found that the ERS system is ready for furtherevaluation in a field operational test (FOT).84