Transactions on Transport Sciences 2019, 10(2):5-17 | DOI: 10.5507/tots.2019.014

Communication between road users and the influence of increased car automation

Christine Chaloupkaa, Ralf Risserb
a Traffic Psychologist according to Austrian Law § 20 FSG-GV
b Department of Psychology, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic

For a smooth, safe and comfortable cooperation of all actors in traffic good communication is essential. In view of the progressing automation in traffic the impacts on communication have to be considered. This paper puts a special focus on car automation's impact on the communication between road users including interaction between highly automated vehicles and vulnerable road users (VRUs). The main research objective was to develop relevant assumptions concerning changing conditions of communication. To reach this objective, interviews with experts were carried out. The results show that various developments between the two poles - (1) implementation controlled by certain societal strategies or (2) implementation that just takes its course - are considered possible. Enhanced automation could lead to the decrease in the use of interpersonal communication while the use of digital communication gains the upper hand. Such a development, on the one hand is seen as a chance for the improvement of traffic safety and efficiency. On the other hand, interviewed experts also identify risks such as misunderstandings between VRUs and automated cars, with fatal outcomes, or reductions in traffic flow. This is expected to be the case especially during the transition phase where vehicles with different degrees of automation are on the road and where many road users outside vehicles move about, e.g. in densely inhabited areas, where ~70% of the citizens in industrial countries live nowadays.

Keywords: Communication in traffic, Automation, Unprotected roadusers

Received: June 7, 2019; Accepted: December 12, 2019; Prepublished online: December 12, 2019; Published: January 17, 2020  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
Chaloupka, C., & Risser, R. (2019). Communication between road users and the influence of increased car automation. Transactions on Transport Sciences, 10(2), 5-17. doi: 10.5507/tots.2019.014
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Atteslander, P., (2010). Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung, Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.
    2. Beggiato, M., Witzlack, C., Springer, S., & Krems, J., (2017). The Right Moment for Braking as Informal Communication Signal Between Automated Vehicles and Pedestrians in Crossing Situations. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 1072 - 1081). Springer, Cham. Go to original source...
    3. Creswell, J.W. & Plano Clark, V.L., (2007). Designing and conducting mixed methods research, Wiley Online Library.
    4. Davila, A. & Nombela, M., (2012). Platooning - Safe and Eco-Friendly Mobility. In SAE 2012 World Congress & Exhibition. Detroit, Michigan: SAE International. Go to original source...
    5. Dey, D. & Terken, J., (2017). Pedestrian Interaction with Vehicles: Roles of Explicit and Implicit Communication. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=3122986.3123009)EUREKA Project E!45 PROMETHEUS. EUREKA Website. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
    6. Färber, B., (2016). Communication and Communication Problems Between Autonomous Vehicles and Human Drivers, in: Maurer M., Gerdes J., Ch., Lenz B., & Winner H., 2016Autonomous Driving. Technical. Legal and Social Aspects., Springer Berlin Heidelberg https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-48847-8_7 Go to original source...
    7. Froschauer, U. & Lueger, M., (2003). Das qualitative Interview: Zur Praxis interpretativer Analyse sozialer Systeme, Vienna: Facultas.
    8. Füssl, E., Ausserer, K., Risser, R. & Bahr, P., (2017). Kommunikation zwischen VerkehrsteilnehmerInnen: Einfluss zunehmender Fahrzeugautomatisierung, Vienna: FACTUM OG.
    9. Gasser, T. M., Seeck, A. & Smith, B. W., (2015). Rahmenbedingungen für die Fahrerassistenzentwicklung. In: Handbuch Fahrerassistenzsysteme. Grundlagen, Komponenten und Systeme für aktive Sicherheit und Komfort. Springer Verlag. Go to original source...
    10. Guéguen, N. and Jacob, C. (2002). Direct Look Versus Evasive Glance and Compliance With a Request. J. Soc. Psychol. 142, 3 (2002), 393-396. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540209603907 Go to original source...
    11. Guéguen, N., Meiner,i S., and Eyssartier, Ch., (2015). A pedestrian's stare and drivers' stopping behavior: A field experiment at the pedestrian crossing. Saf. Sci. 75 (2015), 87-89. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.01.018 Go to original source...
    12. Hagenzieker, M.P., van der Kint L., Vissers, L.K., van Schagen I., de Bruin J., van Gent P., & Commandeur, J., (2016). Interactions between cyclists and automated vehicles: results of a photo experiment. In: Proceedings of the 5th international cycling safety conference, Bologna
    13. Hydén, Ch., (1987). The development of a method for traffic safety evaluation: The Swedish traffic conflict technique. Lund Institute of Technology, Dep. of Traffic Planning and Engineering, University of Lund.
    14. Lundgren, V. M. et al., (2017). Will There Be New Communication Needs When Introducing Automated Vehicles to the Urban Context?. In: Stanton, N., Landry, S., Di Bucchianico, G., & Vallicelli, A. (eds) Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 484. Springer, Cham Go to original source...
    15. Maki, S. & Sage, A., (2018). Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona Woman crossing street. Reuters, Retrieved 14 April 2019.
    16. Merat, N. & Jamson, A. H., (2009). How do drivers behave in a highly automated car? Proceedings of the 5th International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design (pp. 514-521.). Big Sky MT. Go to original source...
    17. Meuser, M. & Nagel, U., (2002). Experteninterviews - vielfach erprobt, wenig bedacht. Ein Beitrag zur qualitativen Methodendiskussion. In: Bogner, A., Littig, B., Menz, W. (Hg.): Das Experteninterview. Theorie, Methode, Anwendung. Opladen, pp 71-94. Go to original source...
    18. Müller, L., Risto, M., & Emmenegger, C., (2016). The social behaviour of autonomous vehicles. In Proceedings of the 2016 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing Adjunct - UbiComp'16 (pp. 686-689). New York, NY, USA: ACM Press. DOI: 10.1145/2968219.2968561 Go to original source...
    19. Rasouli, A., Kotseruba, I., & Tsotsos J.K., (2017). Agreeing to cross: How drivers and pedestrians communicate. In: Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE intelligent vehicles symposium (IV), pp 264-269 Go to original source...
    20. Risser, R., (1985). Behaviour in traffic-conflict situations. Accident analysis and prevention 17/2 pp 179 - 197. Go to original source...
    21. Risser, R., (1988). Kommunikation und Kultur des Straßenverkehrs. Habilitationsschrift an der Universität Wien: Literas Verlag.
    22. Risser, R., (2004). Philosophy of Traffic Calming, in: The Asian Journal, Journal of Transport and Infrastructure 11/1, pp 1.
    23. Risser, R., Zuzan, W.D., Tamme, W., Steinbauer, J. & Kaba, A., (1991). Handbuch zur Erhebung von Verkehrskonflikten mit Anleitungen zur Beobachterschulung. Vienna: Literas.
    24. Risser, R. & Persson, H., (1996). Kommunikation im Straßenverkehr - Ein Grundlagenpapier, Lund Institute of Technology and Vienna: Factum OG .
    25. Rupp, J. D. & King, A. G., (2010). Autonomous Driving - A Practical Roadmap. In SAE Technical Paper Series 2010-01-2335. Warrendale, PA, USA: SAE International. Go to original source...
    26. SAE 2014, SAE International J3016. Levels of driving automation are defined in new SAE international standard J3016. www.sae.org/autodrive.
    27. Schieben, A., Wilbrink, M., Kettwich, C. et al., (2019). Designing the interaction of automated vehicles with other traffic participants: design considerations based on human needs and expectations. Cogn Tech Work (2019) 21: 69. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-018-0521-z Go to original source...
    28. Schmidt, H., Terwilliger, J., AlAdawy, T., & Fridman, L., (2019). Hacking nonverbal communication between pedestrians and vehicles in virtual reality, Massachusettes Institute of Technology; https://arxiv.org/pdf/1904.01931 derived 30.05.2019 Go to original source...
    29. Sternlund, S., Strandroth, J., Rizzi, M., Lie, A. & Tingvall, C., (2017). The effectiveness of lane departure warning systems-A reduction in real-world passenger car injury crashes, Traffic Injury Prevention, 18:2, 225-229, DOI: 10.1080/15389588.2016.1230672 Go to original source...
    30. ©ucha, M., (2014a). Pedestrians and drivers: their encounters at zebra crossings. Fit to drive 8th Int. Traffic Expert Congress, May (2014).
    31. ©ucha, M., (2014b). Road users' strategies and communication: driver-pedestrian interaction. In Transport Research Arena (TRA) 2014 Proceedings. Paris.
    32. Thrun, S., (2010). Towards Robotic Cars. Communications of the ACM, 53 (4), pp 99 - 106. Go to original source...
    33. Verberne, F. M. F., Ham, J. & Midden, C. J. H., (2012). Trust in Smart Systems: Sharing Driving Goals and Giving Information to Increase Trustworthiness and Acceptability of Smart Systems in Cars. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 54(5), 799-810. Go to original source...
    34. Vinkhuyzen, E. & Cefkin, M. , (2016). Developing Socially Acceptable Autonomous Vehicles, Proc. Ethnogr. Prax. Ind. Conf.(2016), 423-435. https://doi.org/10.1111/1559-8918.2016.01108 Go to original source...
    35. Vissers, L. K., van der Kint, L., van Schagen, I. & Hagenzieker, M.P., (2016). Safe interaction between cyclists, pedestrians and automated vehicles: what do we know and what do we need to know? Report of the SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research,The Hague. https://www.swov.nl/publicatie/safe-interaction-between-cyclists-pedestrians-and-automated-vehicles.
    36. Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J.B. & Jackson, D.D., (1967). Pragmatics of Human Communication: A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies and Paradoxes, W. W. Norton & Company.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content