Interaction of automated driving systems with pedestrians: challenges, current solutions, and recommendations for eHMIs

The conventional form of traffic interaction undergoes a notable change with the integration of automated driving systems as a new road user, into the public roads. This may be more challenging during the transition phase, while manual-driven vehicles are still on the road, and the road infrastructure is not fully ready for merging such vehicles into the traffic patterns. Therefore, developing a robust interaction method is crucial to ensure the safety of those users interacting with automated driving systems and to ensure the efficiency of these systems on the road. For this purpose, the interaction of automated driving systems with pedestrians, as one of the most vulnerable road user groups, is investigated in this paper. Previous studies have shown the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of pedestrian behaviours and intentions, their responses to different stimuli on the road, the factors influencing their decisions during the interaction, and various external communication techniques among road users. As a result, a wide range of factors related to the communication environment, pedestrian characteristics, and existing communication methods have been found to be significant in the decision-making process of pedestrians.