Integrated Driver Assistance: Results from a User Needs Survey

The car driver of tomorrow will enjoy an increasing variety of in-vehicle systems that assist him or her in the driving task. An important step in the development of these systems is the integration of driver support functions. This paper discusses a user needs survey that provides more insight into this issue from the driver’s point of view. By means of an Internet questionnaire, car drivers were asked to indicate their needs for driver support during certain driving tasks (e.g. congestion driving) and situations (e.g. driver fatigue). It appeared that the 1049 respondents favored warnings for downstream traffic conditions and warnings for traffic in blind spots. Besides, they would like their cars to help them in critical situations, such as an imminent crash and reduced visibility. These needs of the driver indicate consequences for the possible integration of driver support functions. Functions should exchange information to extend their individual fields of activity, for example by inter-vehicle communication (e.g. warning for downstream traffic conditions) or sensor data fusion (e.g. warning for an imminent crash).