• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.173-188
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• 2024

With the advancement of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, autonomous driving on real roads has become feasible. However, there are challenges in achieving complete autonomy due to perceptual blind areas, which occur when the AV's sensory range or capabilities are limited or impaired by surrounding objects or environmental factors. This study aims to analyze AV accident patterns and safety issues of perceptual blind area that may occur in urban areas, with the goal of developing test scenarios for Level 4+ autonomous driving. It utilized AV accident data from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to compare accident patterns and characteristics between AVs and conventional vehicles based on activation status of autonomous mode. It also categorized AV disengagement data to identify types and real-world cases of disengagements caused by perceptual blind areas. The analysis revealed that AVs exhibit different accident types due to their safe driving maneuvers, and three types of perceptual blind area scenarios were identified. The findings of this study serve as crucial foundational data for developing Level 4+ autonomous driving test scenarios, enabling the design of efficient strategies to mitigate perceptual blind areas in various scenarios. This, in turn, is expected to contribute to the effective evaluation and enhancement of AV driving safety on real roads.