Evaluation of an active safety light using virtual test drive within vehicle in the loop

Driving at night time increases the risk of accidents because the driver's perception is reduced to the limited area of the environment which is illuminated by the car's head lights. In the study presented in this paper, the tool Vehicle in the Loop (VIL) is used the first time to research the potential of a new light function. VIL is a Virtual Reality application and simulation setup which allows for testing driver assistance systems in critical driving situations while driving a real car, but without the risk of collisions with real objects. VIL is based on the Virtual Test Drive (VTD) simulation software. The Active Safety Light is an advanced light functionality which illuminates the potential escape path a driver should take in order to avoid an imminent accident. The two main results of this first field study are, that VIL is suitable to study advanced light functions and that the Active Safety Light supports the driver in critical situations. The driver reacts nearly 60 ms faster and the situation is estimated as more critical so that the driver brakes instinctively harder, i.e. the break pressure is increased by almost a factor of two.