Influence of In-Vehicle Adaptive Stop Display on Driving Behavior and Safety

In 2012, 683 000 crashes occurred at stop-sign-controlled intersections, with 2434 of those crashes being fatal and composing 5.3% of all fatal traffic incidents in the United States. Roughly 50% of all fatal crashes at stop-sign-controlled intersections involve crossing over (i.e., running) the traffic control device. With the advent of connected-vehicle technology, it is possible to provide a salient in-vehicle adaptive stop display to a driver. This display could alert a driver when he or she will have to stop at an intersection due to oncoming traffic. The same display could also permit drivers to pass through an intersection without stopping when a conflicting vehicle is not present. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate these potential improvements in safety and mobility through an empirical research study. An in-vehicle adaptive stop display was developed and tested on the Virginia Smart Road. Forty-nine drivers were exposed to multiple intersection scenarios they would experience in the real world while using connected-vehicle technology. The scenarios included variations in adjacent traffic, equipment malfunctions, and total equipment failures. There were no indications of a safety detriment to using the adaptive stop display in terms of compliance (likelihood of driver adhering to the information presented), driver complacency, or driver risk taking. Furthermore, the study indicates that, with a higher measured rate of compliance, an in-vehicle adaptive stop display would have a positive impact on safety.