An Exploratory Analysis of Crashes Involving Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to lower the number of vehicular crashes, as research has shown that most collisions are caused by driver error. Consequently, several companies in the US and other countries have conducted pilot tests on public highways to expedite the mainstream deployment of AVs and examine the effects that they have on traffic safety. Although a few studies have used AV crash data to attempt this task, their sample sizes were too small, and they failed to explore many of the factors causing the crashes. This study aims to analyze the characteristics of the collisions in terms of frequency per annum; company and make of AV; and vehicular, environmental, and roadway factors. The crash data, gathered for this research from the California Department of Motor Vehicles, pertains to the characteristics of 259 collisions involving AVs that occurred in California between September 2014 and June 2020 and reveals a sharp increase in the number of crashes after 2017. AVs were at fault for a small proportion of them, as most of them were rear-end collisions that occurred when they were operating in the autonomous mode, and the number of passengers sustaining a major injury was very low. Environmental factors such as weather and lightening did not have a significant impact, as the data shows that most of the accidents occurred in clear weather during daylight hours. The results of this study will help transportation experts more fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of autonomous vehicles by providing a comprehensive picture of collisions involving them.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784484883.030
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/9780784484883
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  1801 Alexander Bell Drive
  Reston, VA  United States  20191-4400
• Authors:
  • Pamidimukkala, Apurva
  • Kermanshachi, Sharareh
  • Patel, Ronik
• Conference:
  • International Conference on Transportation and Development 2023
  • Location: Austin Texas, United States
  • Date: 2023-6-14 to 2023-6-17
• Publication Date: 2023

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: References;
• Pagination: pp 343-350
• Monograph Title: International Conference on Transportation and Development 2023: Transportation Planning, Operations, and Transit

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Autonomous vehicles; Crash analysis; Crash causes; Crash data; Traffic crashes; Vehicle mix
• Geographic Terms: California
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01887247
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780784484883
• Files: TRIS, ASCE
• Created Date: Jul 13 2023 9:37AM