The main objective of the PROLOGUE (PROmoting real Life Observations for Gaining Understanding of road user behaviour in Europe) is to contribute to the reduction of road casualties by exploring, developing, testing and promoting naturalistic observation methodology. This is done by proving the feasibility and usefulness of a large-scale European naturalistic driving observation study. The Israeli trial, described in this report, is focusing on several aspects of naturalistic studies in order to demonstrate the large potential of naturalistic studies for gaining understanding on road users' behaviour towards the ultimate goal of improving behaviour and consequently reducing injuries and fatalities. Within the Israeli trial, a number of small-scale naturalistic field trials are conducted. All trials use off-the-shelf in-vehicle technologies which identify and report extreme, pre-defined driving events. The events identified are G-force based and vision-based. The capability of the technologies to provide valid and meaningful information on driving behaviour is explored and discussed. Several innovative research questions are addressed and discussed within this trial, including: a comparison of events obtained by two totally different technologies installed in the same car, evaluation of proxies to "near-crashes" based on in-vehicle systems that do not contain continuous video information, geographical and spatial analysis of G-force based events of young novice drivers and their parents, a comparison of young drivers' driving behaviour between the period immediately after licensure and 4 years later, and an evaluation of "group" driving characteristics of young drivers belonging to the same social group. Valuable insights, as well as the overall contribution and potential for future naturalistic studies are explored and discussed. (Author/publisher) See http://www.prologue-eu.eu/ for more information and other reports about this programme.
Abstract