Identification of Critical Scenario Components Based on Driving Database Analysis for Safety Assessment of Automated Driving Systems

Abstract

A thorough safety assessment of an automated driving system (ADS) is necessary before its introduction into the market and practical application. Scenario-based assessments have received significant attention in research. However, identifying sufficient critical scenarios for ADSs is a major challenge, especially for complex urban environments with a variety of road geometries, traffic rules, and traffic participants. To identify the critical scenarios in this complex environment, it is essential to understand the environmental factors that lead to safety-critical events (e.g., accidents and near-miss incidents). Thus, this study proposes a method for identification of critical scenario components by analyzing near-miss incident data and extracting environmental factors that induce driver errors. In this study, we applied the proposed method to a scenario, in which an ego vehicle makes a right turn at a signalized intersection with an oncoming vehicle approaching the intersection in left-hand traffic, as a case study. The proposed method identified two components (dynamic occlusion caused by oncoming right-turn vehicles and change in traffic lights) that were both critical and challenging for ADSs. The case study results showed the usefulness of the identified components and the validity of the proposed method, which can extract critical scenario components explicitly.