Longitudinal Dynamics during Lane Changes: Assessment of Automated Driving Styles under Real-World Conditions

Lane changes represent key driving maneuvers on highways and are characterized by the combination of lateral and longitudinal dynamics. This article addresses the fundamental research question of how longitudinal dynamics should be designed for automated highway driving. In doing so, the focus is on lane changes to initiate passing maneuvers and resulting driving comfort. To investigate this issue, a study was conducted on a German highway with two automated driving styles and two non-driving related tasks. In the context of a situational evaluation of nearly 250 automated lane changes, a significant correlation between the existence of a rearward vehicle in the target lane and assessment of the respective driving maneuver was identified. However, this negative influence of rearward vehicles in the target lane tends to be counteracted by increased longitudinal dynamics during automated lane changes.