Connected Car In Vehicle Information System: A Safety Assessment of the Connected Car System

Cubic are developed a Virtual VMS/Connected Car system based on a cloud based Connected Car Hub forming a warehouse of Virtual VMS messages from traffic authorities connecting to vehicles and projecting guidance and warnings to drivers directly into the infotainment units deployed in production cars.
The enabler in the car is Smartphone integration where an approved app integrates with one of the systems already deployed in cars (for example MirrorLink) to provide In-Vehicle signage (Virtual VMS). The system uses the concept of a geo-gate: a geospatial gate implemented in a smartphone. As a vehicle approaches a geo-gate in a defined direction the gate triggers and a message is displayed and spoken to the driver.

One of the road authorities Cubic worked with to develop this is Transport Scotland. They were interested in trialling the system but have concerns around the rigorous completion of appropriate reviews and assessments for safe use in a car of such a system prior to trials. Cubic is aware that Transport Research Laboratory and others have developed Safety Checklists for the assessment of In-Vehicle information systems and an independent assessment of the Connected Car system against a recognised standard would provide an element of due diligence to form part of a proposal to Transport Scotland to support a trial.

It is important that In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) comply with road safety standards and guidelines, in this case the European Statement of Principles on Human-Machine Interface (ESoP: European Commission, 2008). This report describes work carried out for Cubic, evaluating and assessing the extent of compliance with the ESoP of a traffic information app, developed by Cubic and
running on mobile phone connected to a vehicle’s dashboard. A checklist developed by TRL for the UK Department for Transport was completed, following a real-world drive with the app installed in a compatible vehicle. Based on the checklist assessment, which covers system installation, information presentation, interaction with displays and control, system behaviour and information about the system, a set of recommendations have been made to Cubic. The most important of these recommendations is the user should be allowed to use the vehicle’s built-in infotainment system while driving, with the app running in the background and overriding infotainment only when there are
safety-related messages to be delivered. Other recommendations cover providing more information and instructions on app launch.