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This paper presents the test track scenario design and analysis used to estimate the performances of heavy vehicles equipped with forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems in rear-end crash scenarios. The first part of this design and analysis study was to develop parameters for brake inputs in test track scenarios simulating a driver that has insufficiently applied the brakes to avoid a rear-end collision. In the second part of this study, the deceleration limits imposed by heavy vehicles mechanics and brake systems are used to estimate automatic emergency braking performance benefits with respect to minimum stopping distance requirements set by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. The results of this study were used to complete the test track procedures and show that all heavy vehicles meeting regulatory stopping distance requirements have the braking capacity to demonstrate rear-end crash avoidance improvements in the developed tests.

This paper presents National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2017 and 2018 test track research results with heavy vehicles equipped with forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems. Newly developed objective test procedures were used to perform and collect performance data with three single-unit trucks equipped with the crash avoidance systems. The results of this research show that the test procedures are applicable to many heavy vehicles and indicate that performance improvements in heavy vehicles equipped with these safety systems can be objectively measured.