From controllability to safety in use: Safety assessment of driver assistance systems

Abstract

Increasing automation requires a change from looking into the driver performance in single situations to the analysis of the entire likelihood of risks. Driver performance, system performance, and the traffic in general are important issues in this. The approach to develop safety in use, where these components have to be considered, is introduced and explained. The difference to functional safety according to the ISO 26262 is also made explicit. The analysis of safety in use offers the opportunity of quantifying risks. An acceptable reference value for this risk does not yet exist. Two existing approaches that could be used as a reference are explained, dealing with similar risks. In the second part of this paper, methods and examples of how to get necessary data for an analysis of safety in use are described. Literature reviews, questionnaires, studies in driving simulator or in real vehicles, and observation of traffic or field operational tests are explained using examples of conducted investigations in China and Germany.