Effectiveness of a Driver Assistance System With Deceleration Control and Brake Hold Functions in Stop Sign Intersection Scenarios

Elderly drivers often tend to disobey stop signs, and the number of vehicle accidents associated with this is increasing. The problem we address in this work is that of failure (or inability) of elderly drivers to identify potential conflicts with other road users at stop-sign intersections. The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of deceleration control with brake hold on the driving habits of elderly drivers in potentially hazardous situations. This study proposes a driver assistance system with three functionalities: 1) information provision to warn drivers that they are approaching a stop-sign intersection; 2) deceleration control to stop the vehicle; and 3) brake hold to ensure that the vehicle has stopped completely. The timeline for a stop-sign intersection scenario is divided into pre- and post-vehicle-stop phases. The effectiveness of the proposed approach in the context of braking-assistance intervention was evaluated by conducting a public-road driving experiment involving 34 elderly drivers. It was observed that the participants could be guided to exhibit rule-following driver behavior voluntarily. The proposed system increased safety for elderly drivers, not only by avoiding stop-sign violations, but also by increasing the available time for a driver to search for hidden hazards in blind spots. We conclude that the braking-assistance intervention system is effective in helping drivers avoid failure or inability to search for potential conflict owing to stop-sign violations.