Skip to main content

Effects of Automated Systems on Safety (EASY)

Funding Organisation: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

The main aim of the project will to generate knowledge about drivers' situation awareness and behaviour in a driving environment in which driving tasks are progressively removed and automated using Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). The transformation of the driver's role into one of supervisory control over the various systems in the vehicle rather than actual operation of the vehicle has considerable human factors and safety implications.

The major objectives of the project are:

  • To understand the human factors and safety implications of ADAS that supplant the driver in control of the vehicle
  • To investigate the effects of various type of ADAS - those that take over longitudinal control, those take over lateral control and a combination of the two
  • To develop means for mitigating any negative safety implications of such systems, so that their potential benefits in terms of increased capacity of the road network and increased reliability over the human operator can be realised.