Blog

On May 31, 2023, half a year after the start of the DARTS project – Database of Autonomous vehicles Road Testing Scenarios, the first project task was completed, the purpose of which was to parameterize the Polish road infrastructure, i.e. to determine the road infrastructure solutions used in Poland, the frequency of the occurrence and potential of accidents in the context of the implementation of driving automation systems. For the purposes of the project, two analyses were carried out, covering the categorization of the typicality and frequency of the infrastructural solutions used or the occurrence of dangerous road situations, in particular:

• analysis of infrastructural solutions, the application of which affects the inference of systems that automate the process of driving a vehicle,
• identification of particularly dangerous places, i.e. those where road accidents occur most often.

As part of the conducted analyses, solutions specific to Poland were selected, such as those that may be important for vehicle perception systems at various levels of automation. The regulations and infrastructural solutions in the field of road traffic law, the act on public roads and other relevant legal acts were reviewed.

The works carried out included, in particular, typical for Poland construction solutions for road infrastructure and vertical and horizontal markings. The degree to which the infrastructure in Poland differs from the solutions used in Europe was also determined (with particular emphasis on the most important automotive centres, i.e. Germany and France). Fragments of infrastructure were analysed, which made it possible to cover all categories of roads in Poland and the most important elements of road infrastructure. The information and statistical data presented in the analysis made it possible to categorize the frequency and typicality of infrastructural solutions used in Poland.

The second analysis concerned the review of available databases on road safety in the context of identifying fragments of infrastructure with a high accident rate that may be problematic for perception systems. The Motor Transport Institute has extensive knowledge and many years of experience in analyses of road safety, e.g. thanks to the Polish Road Safety Observatory.

As part of the DARTS project, data on accidents and collisions, statistical data on the number of inhabitants, area, number of vehicles, length of roads, data on traffic on national and provincial roads were analysed. In addition, data from manufacturers testing autonomous vehicles was taken into account, containing information about collisions of this type of vehicle, which resulted in property damage, personal injury or death. These data allowed to define the most dangerous road situations in terms of the operation of perception systems.

The results of the analyses will be used in the further stages of the DARTS project.

The DARTS project – Database of Autonomous vehicles Road Testing Scenarios is financed by the National Centre for Research and Development under the agreement No. GOSPOSTRATEG-VIII/0001/2022