The concept and modeling of driving safety field based on driver-vehicle-road interactions

Vehicle driving safety is influenced by many factors including drivers, vehicles, and roads, the interactions among which are quite complex. Consequently, existing methods that evaluate driving safety perform inadequately since they consider only limited factors and their effects. As such, it is difficult for vehicle kinematics- and dynamics-based driving safety assistant systems to adapt to increasingly complex traffic environments. In this study, we propose a new concept, driving safety field. The concept makes use of field theory to represent the risks of driving caused by drivers, vehicles, roads, and other traffic factors. A unified model of the driving safety field is constructed, which includes the following three parts: i) a potential field, which is determined by no-moving objects on the roads, such as a stopped vehicle; ii) a kinetic field, which is determined by the moving objects on roads, such as vehicles and pedestrians; and iii) a behavior field, which is determined by the driver´s individual characteristics. Moreover, the model´s application in a typical car-following scenario is illustrated, which evaluates the risks caused by traffic factors. The driving safety field can reveal driver-vehicle-road interactions and their influences on driving safety in order to predict trends of dynamic changes in driving safety. In addition, it can provide a new platform for driving safety measures and active vehicle control under complex traffic environments.