The aim of this literature study is to identify the needs and the demands of the stakeholders in the Netherlands with respect to ACC and to assess its safety impact. To assess the safety impact of ACC, three aspects should be considered: functional system safety, human machine interaction, and traffic safety. In order to use the knowledge of safety impacts for public policy making, the needs and demands of the following stakeholders were considered: general road users, ACC-users, and society as a whole. An overview is given of research results, found in a number of relevant studies in the literature. The different types of studies considered here are: traffic simulation studies, driving simulator studies, field operational tests, and stated preference surveys. The results indicate that in order to increase both traffic safety and road capacity, current ACC systems might have to be extended with a Stop-and-Go functionality and preferably also with collision warning or collision avoidance capabilities. Current ACC systems may contribute to a substantial reduction of fuel consumption. (Author/publisher)
Abstract