Lane Departure Warning Systems Webinar Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Presentations Amy Houser (FMCSA) Amy.Houser@dot.gov Dan Murray (ATRI) dmurray@trucking.org Office of Research and Analysis Lane Departure Warning Systems and Deployment Amy Houser Engineer, Technology Division Tuesday, March 20, 2007 11:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Office of Research and Analysis 1
Lane Departure Warning Systems Camera surveys road ahead not driver Tracks road and vehicle position in lane Monitors weaving and lane drifts Alerts driver before lane and road departures Blocks warnings automatically Turn signal is used Speed is less than threshold (approximately 35 mph) Disables warning functions Poor visibility Not well-defined lane boundaries Poor confidence in lane position calculation Mack Intelligent Vehicle Initiative McKenzie Tank Lines Hazardous materials haulers operating out of multiple Gulf Coast States Drivers assigned to specific trucks Destinations varied daily 2
Roadway Departures Crashes resulting from simply leaving the roadway Occur on both straight and curved sections Often involve either rollover of the vehicle or collisions with fixed objects such as trees, utility poles, etc. ~18,000 single vehicle roadway departure crashes per year involving large trucks that could potentially be mitigated by LDWS Mack Intelligent Vehicle Initiative Under FOT Conditions, the Lane Departure Warning System reduces crashes 21% to 23% reduction in single vehicle roadway departure crashes 17% to 24% reduction in rollover crashes Improves safety-related driving behavior by decreasing unintended lane excursions Economically justified for tractor-tanker applications 3
Deployment Planning Facilitate the voluntary deployment of technology by the industry Work in partnership opportunities with stakeholders Support decision-making by providing additional information and data Voluntary Functional Specifications Technology & Maintenance Council Recommended Practices FMCSA Website Safety and Security System Technology Product Guides What s s Next? Continue industry collaboration Integrate lane departure and collision warning systems to optimize effectiveness Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems Program Compute costs and benefits for industry Initiate future testing plans for more rigorous evaluations Assess technology adoption 4
Thank you for your attention! Contact Information: Amy Houser Amy.Houser@dot.gov (202) 385-2382 Office of Research and Analysis 5
Lane Departure Warning Systems Dean Newell Maverick Transportation March 20, 2007 Why LDWS? Accidents involving unintentional lane drift on the rise Looking for tool to assist drivers to prevent and mitigate such accidents 6
Taking It for a Test Drive LDWS first installed on five units Tested by five drivers most resistant to change/most likely to complain Taking It for a Test Drive Driver Reactions: From a Million Mile Wall of Fame Driver LDWS made me a better driver; I was not aware that 8 or 9 hours into my driving shift I was starting to drift lanes 7
Taking It for a Test Drive Driver Reactions: Most vocal driver insisted that if only $1 more spent on safety that it be spent on LDWS Decision to Buy To make the case to management to invest in LDWS asked two questions: Would it have made you (Dean) a better driver? YES Is it the right thing to do for safety? YES 8
Current Deployment Currently running LDWS on 1,200 trucks Within 60 days will have LDWS installed on an additional 200 trucks acquired as part of specialized fleet purchase Current Deployment Installed aftermarket by Maverick technicians Installation not difficult Technicians are now able to install in no more than 90 minutes based on experience Minimal maintenance 9
Driver Training All new drivers taken on road test to familiarize with equipment Lane drift alarm demonstrated during road test Description of LDWS how and why included in classroom instruction/orientation Driver Training Originally viewed LDWS and the accidents to be avoided with the technology as being about fatigue With experience, it s evident that it s more about mitigating the impact of driver distraction not fatigue 10
Driver Training When training drivers on use of LDWS, it should not be presented as a fatigue management tool Instead focus on positive impacts relative to distraction Driver Reactions Most drivers report positive results with use of LDWS Non-intrusive when driver correctly changes lanes (with signal) Simply used as tool to alert driver when unintentional drift occurs 11
Driver Reactions When drivers do complain (rarely), system checked including on-road test Usually result from problem with settings Once corrected, driver acceptance high The Safety Payoff Prior to LDWS deployment, run off the road accidents 1 out of every 4.75M miles With LDWS deployed, run off the road accidents 1 out of every 17.4M miles 12
Making LDWS Better Possible LDWS improvements: Report on number of activations per trip Based on established threshold for activations, real-time notification (via cellular or satellite) when threshold exceeded 13
Lane Departure Warning Systems Jerry Waddell Cargo Transporters March 20, 2007 Why LDWS? Off road events are high profile in the public eye Vehicle appears out of control Creates perception issue for company and industry Company s s overall operations called into question Media reports often distorted Credibility of driver immediately called into question Fatigue is often implied 14
Why LDWS? Off road events are serious and have serious consequences for the people involved Injury to driver is likely Workers Compensation Permanent or partial disabilities likely When, can and should driver return to work? Why LDWS? Injury to others possibility Perception of serious crash Hard to defend in court (vehicle out of control) High exposure Very costly losses Freight damages and claims Customer relations issues Replacement loads = logistics nightmare 15
Costs to consider Loss of equipment Why LDWS? Replacement equipment Towing and clean up costs at scene out of this world What are the costs relative to industry-wide low profit margins? How long will it take to pay for a $100,000 loss? The Decision to Buy When accidents occur, company must consider if they have done everything possible to prevent accident What tools were provided to drivers to prevent accidents? Providing employees with most useful tools in the company s s best interest 16
Current Deployment Currently deployed on 386 trucks 90% of fleet 102M miles operated with LDWS Standard spec on new equipment Factory-installed Will not purchase w/o LDWS No maintenance issues to date Driver Training New drivers taken on road test to demo equipment Drivers test run off to hear audio alert Non-intrusive training tool Drivers taught that no driver action is needed other than corrective action when alerted 17
Driver Reactions No complaints from drivers No negative response to being alerted by LDWS (problem with other technologies) Most new hires have not had previous experience with LDWS Younger drivers willingly accept all new technology assists Older drivers reluctant at first ( I ve( been driving for 10 years why do I need this? ) Attitude soon changes after experience with LDWS The Safety Payoff Only 2 runoff incidents since installing LDWS which achieved a rate of.02 RMM Cost of technology can be justified by incident mitigation/avoidance LDWS prevented serious injury and possibly saved the driver s s life in recent incident LDW incidents reduced to 1 per 51 million miles 18
Recommended Improvements Real time target data when threshold number of activations occurs Alternate notification strategy (based on set lane width) in the absence of adequate shoulder striping Can you defend your decision not to use LDWS? 19
Improving Safety in the Trucking Industry Dan Murray, ATRI FMCSA LDWS Webinar March 20, 2007 Safety Objectives Fatal crash rates for large trucks: 2002: 2.2 fatalities per 100M VMT 2003: 1.9 fatal crashes per 100M VMT Challenge to continue developing and institutionalizing meaningful safety initiatives Incremental improvements important but challenging and sometimes costly Multiple interested stakeholders 20
Safety Issues & Opportunities 2004 Truck Crash Data 4,440 fatal crashes 83,000 crashes with injuries 312,000 crashes with property damage only In 2000, costs associated with truck crashes ranged between $10.9B and $40.3B Total cost of all motor vehicle crashes in 2000 was $230.6B 71% - 75%... 25% is up to us! Safety Areas of Interest Drivers Recruitment Screening Training Management Vehicles/Technology Two-fold benefit: on-road assist; driver training BCAs indicate short break-even even on technologies Insurance industry interest? Future Alternative Compliance input? 21
Research Topics Carriers Increased Field Data & Analysis System Efficacy Data Standards Benefit/Cost Management (purchasing, maintenance, ROIs,, etc.) Drivers User Perceptions/Perspectives Issue/Experience Logs Sensory Overload Institutional Issues Legal Privacy Long-Term Deployment Strategies Multi-Faceted Approach Needed Questions? Contact: dmurray@trucking.org www.atri-online.org 22