Investigating the Effects of External Communication and Automation Behavior on Manual Drivers at Intersections

Abstract

Automated vehicles are expected to substitute or even improve driver-driver communication, for example, via LED strips or displays. Numerous situations exist where ambiguities have to be resolved via gestures or implicit communication (i.e., movement). An already demanding situation is the unsignalized four-way intersection. Additionally, Vehicle-To-Everything technology enables automated vehicles to perform maneuvers impossible before such as blocking an intersection to safely let an emergency vehicle pass. Therefore, we report the results of a within-subject Virtual Reality study (N=17) evaluating these two scenarios. Results show that external communication increased perceived safety and reduced mental workload, and also that the novel behavior confused participants. Our work helps better to integrate external communication in settings with manual drivers.