Effects of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems on Impact Velocity and Injury Severity: An Exploration of Data from the Crash Investigation Sampling System

Abstract

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) features and safety outcomes using National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Crash Investigation Sampling System (CISS) database. In this database, we found improved safety outcomes associated with the presence of three ADAS features: lane departure warning, forward collision warning, and blind spot detection. In particular, vehicles with ADAS features were less likely to be involved in fatal and severe crashes than vehicles of a similar age and body style. Additionally, vehicles with ADAS features had a lower rate of change in velocity pre- and postcrash, a key proxy for injury severity. Vehicles with ADAS were also less likely to be involved in head-on and rear-end crashes than similar vehicles without ADAS and were less likely to experience a severe outcome than vehicles without ADAS when involved in sideswipe collisions. Despite these promising findings, however, small sample sizes precluded robust within-category and multivariate analysis. More robust data are urgently needed to disentangle the safety effects of ADAS features from those related to confounding variables such as vehicle age and body type for vehicle occupants, pedestrians, and bicyclists. We conclude the paper with recommendations for improvements to the CISS database that could support future investigations. We hope this work provides a baseline for scholars and practitioners to deepen our understanding of the effects of ADAS features on transportation safety.