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This paper describes the assessment of driver interfaces of a type of electronics-based collision avoidance systems that has been recently developed to assist drivers of vehicles in avoiding certain types of collisions. The electronics-based crash avoidance systems studied were those which detect the presence of objects located on the left and/or right sides of the vehicle, called Side Collision Avoidance Systems, or SCAS. As many SCAS as could be obtained, including several pre-production prototypes, were acquired and tested. The testing focused on measuring sensor performance and assessing the qualities of the driver interfaces. This paper presents only the results of the driver interface assessments. The sensor performance data are presented in the NHTSA report “Development of Performance Specifications for Collision Avoidance Systems for Lane Changing, Merging, and Backing - Task 3 - Test of Existing Hardware Systems” [1].

A Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (SNPRM, Notice 4) for FMVSS 135 has recently been issued proposing a new braking regulation for passenger cars. Due to interest in light truck braking performance as it relates to that of passenger cars, a sample of 13 light trucks was tested to the FMVSS 135 Notice 4 procedure for purposes of comparison with the performance of a sample of 19 passenger cars tested to the same procedure. The brake force balance and braking efficiency of the light trucks were also measured and compared to the same parameters of the set of 19 cars.