A systematic review of safety-critical scenarios between automated vehicles and vulnerable road users

Automated vehicles (AVs) are of great potential in reducing crashes on the road. However, it is still complicated to eliminate all the possible accidents, especially those with vulnerable road users (VRUs), who are among the greater risk than vehicle occupants in traffic accidents. Thus, in this paper, we conducted a systematic review of safety-critical scenarios between AVs and VRUs. We identified 39 papers in the literature and typical safety-critical scenarios between AVs and VRUs. They were further divided into three categories, including human factors, environmental factors, and vehicle factors. We then discussed the development, challenges, and possible solutions for each category. In order to further improve the safety of VRUs when interacting with AVs, multiple stakeholders should work together to 1) improve AI and sensor technologies and vehicle automation, 2) redesign the current transportation infrastructure, 3) design effective communication technologies and interfaces between vehicles and between vehicles and VRUs, and 4) design effective simulation and testing methods to support and evaluate both infrastructure and technologies.