Evaluation of Autonomous and Manual Vehicle Interactions Based on Psychological Safety Margin Using Waymo Open Dataset

Yuanming Cui; Hoyoon Lee; Cheol Oh

doi:10.22680/kasa2026.18.2.071

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2026 Vol.18, Issue 2 Preview Page

Evaluation of Autonomous and Manual Vehicle Interactions Based on Psychological Safety Margin Using Waymo Open Dataset Waymo Open Dataset을 활용한 심리적 안전 마진 기반 자율차-비자율차 상호작용 평가

30 June 2026. pp. 71-79

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Abstract

The advancement of autonomous driving technology has heightened the need to ensure not only physical safety but also the psychological safety of human drivers in mixed traffic environments. Existing interaction safety metrics, such as Post-Encroachment Time (PET), provide thresholds for physical conflicts but fail to reflect the psychological safety of manual vehicle drivers interacting with autonomous vehicles. This study defines psychological safety as a state in which a human driver of a manual vehicle does not feel anxiety due to the behavior of an autonomous vehicle. Accordingly, we propose that interaction safety evaluation criteria should complement existing physical safety indicators by explicitly incorporating psychological safety. The proposed methodology is to assess autonomous vehicle–manual vehicle interaction safety based on the Psychological Safety Margin (PSM), defined as the set of preemptive and yielding threshold speeds within which an autonomous vehicle can pass through an intersection whilst ensuring the psychological safety of the human driver. Based on the PSM, a Psychological Safety Zone (PSZ) and a Psychological Risk Zone (PRZ) are further established; when the autonomous vehicle's speed falls within the PSZ, the driver's psychological safety is ensured, whereas a speed within the PRZ indicates it is not. A Psychological Safety Score (PSS) was derived by scoring the proportion of interaction time satisfying the PSZ, and utilized as an interaction safety assessment index. The proposed methodology was applied to the Waymo Open Dataset, and the results quantitatively demonstrate differences in psychological safety levels by intersection types and interaction scenarios. The outcome of this study can contribute to establishing psychological safety evaluation criteria for improving the social acceptability of autonomous driving technology. In addition, it is expected to support the assessment of autonomous vehicle driving performance and the development of speed management strategies accounting for the psychological safety of road users.

Keywords

Autonomous vehicle(자율차)

Vehicle interaction evaluation(차량 상호작용 평가)

Psychological Safety Margin(심리적 안전 마진)

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Information

Publisher :Korean Auto-vehicle Safety Association
Publisher(Ko) :한국자동차모빌리티안전학회
Journal Title :Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
Journal Title(Ko) :자동차안전학회지
Volume : 18
No :2
Pages :71-79
Received Date : 2026-05-11
Revised Date : 2026-06-03
Accepted Date : 2026-06-05
DOI :https://doi.org/10.22680/kasa2026.18.2.071

Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association ISSN:2005-9396(Print) 자동차안전학회지

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