Effect of Warning Timing on Collision Avoidance Behavior in a Stationary Lead Vehicle Scenario

Warning timing and how drivers with and without forward collision warning (FCW) systems react when distracted at the moment a stationary vehicle is revealed directly ahead were investigated. The study was conducted using the Iowa Driving Simulator (IDS). The IDS was equipped with an FCW system that provided auditory warnings based on two warning criteria. A total of 30 subjects were split across three conditions--a baseline of 10 subjects (no warning display), and two warning conditions (early and late) with 10 subjects each. The two warning conditions differed by the duration of an a priori driver reaction component (1.5 and 1.0 s) in the warning algorithm. Drivers' collision avoidance performance in the two warning conditions was compared with that in the baseline condition. Results indicated that the early warning condition showed significantly shorter accelerator release reaction times, fewer crashes, and less severe crashes than both the baseline condition and the late warning condition. The results indicate that the timing of a warning is important in the design of collision warning systems.