W. Van Winsum et al., A comparison of different ways to approximate time-to-line crossing (TLC) during car driving, ACC ANAL PR, 32(1), 2000, pp. 47-56
Three experiments are presented: in which the accuracy of different methods
to approximate time-to-line crossing is assessed. In the first experiment
TLC was computed, using a trigonometric method, during normal driving while
the vehicle stayed in lane. The minima of TLC were compared with two appro
ximations and it was found computing TLC as lateral distance divided by lat
eral velocity gave poor results. It was concluded that this simple approxim
ation is not suitable for measuring TLC minima in studies of driver behavio
ur. A way of computing TLC that takes account of the curved path of the veh
icle resulted in a good fit of TLC minima. In two other experiments the veh
icle exceeded the lane boundary, either intentionally as a result of a lane
change manoeuvre, or unintentionally as a result of impaired driving. In t
hese cases no TLC minima exists since these only occur as a result of corre
cting steering actions to stay within the lane. In contrast to normal lane
keeping, it was found that prior to crossing the lane boundary, the simple
approximation resulted in more accurate estimation of available time before
the lane boundary is exceeded compared to the more complex approximation.
This indicates that for lane keeping support systems and systems that detec
t when the driver has fallen asleep and drifts out of lane, a simple algori
thm for TLC estimation may give reliable results, while this algorithm is n
ot accurate enough for more fundamental studies of driver behaviour. Howeve
r, the reliability of the approximation is only satisfactory over a very sh
ort time range before the lane boundary is actual exceeded. This may result
in warnings that come too late and result in too little time to respond fo
r the driver. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.