Beyond the Proving Ground: Independent Public-Road Testing of Assisted Lane Change Systems using LiDAR

Testing of commercial Advanced Driver Assistance Systems is essential to ensure safety and compliance during type approval and in service operation. However, proving ground scenarios may not reflect real world driving complexity, while geo fencing can require manufacturer collaboration and limit assessment independence. This work presents a methodology for independently testing Assisted Lane Change systems on public roads. A campaign on the A31 French motorway used a test vehicle equipped with a LiDAR based vehicle detection and tracking system. Tests covered combinations of inter vehicle distance and speed between the test vehicle and the take over vehicle. Real time kinematic global navigation satellite system receivers assessed detection and tracking performance. Recorded lane change trajectories were compared with the lane change suppression requirements of UNECE Regulation Number 79. Of 27 predefined lane change manoeuvres, 18 were completed and 9 suppressed. In 6 cases, the system allowed manoeuvres that did not meet regulatory minimum distance requirements. In 3 cases, the deviation remained statistically significant after accounting for measurement uncertainty. To the authors knowledge, this is the first public road campaign designed to assess Assisted Lane Change compliance with Regulation Number 79 safety distance requirements. The results demonstrate the suitability of LiDAR based sensing for this purpose. The methodology can support market surveillance and future regulatory revisions by revealing real world behaviours not covered by approval procedures.