Potential Mitigations of Unintended Disengagement of Driving Automation
Sponsor: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Human Factors IDIQ · Role: Co-PI (PI: Shan Bao) · Period: 2026–2029
Unintended disengagements of SAE Level 2 and Level 3 driving automation can catch drivers off guard and create safety-critical transitions of control. This project combines large-scale telematics data analysis, evidence synthesis, and controlled driving-simulator studies to understand when and why unintended disengagements occur and evaluate candidate mitigation strategies.
My contributions
- Co-Principal Investigator on the project.
- Lead the Super Cruise telematics mining task, quantifying unintended disengagement event rates and causes from GM OnStar data.
- Contribute to simulator scenario design, statistical power analysis, and preparation of the final research dataset.
Efe Yarbasi is an Assistant Research Scientist in the Engineering Systems Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). His research covers the safety of automated and driver-assistance systems and the electrification of transportation. He serves as principal investigator and co-principal investigator on projects sponsored by NHTSA, Toyota Motor North America, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. He co-leads the Low Altitude Airspace Working Group at M-Air.
He holds a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech. There he worked in the Aerospace Systems Design Laboratory under Prof. Dimitri Mavris and developed methods to find and reduce the uncertainties that matter most in complex, multi-disciplinary designs. He is a member of AIAA and IEEE.
Students, please get in touch. I am looking for curious, motivated students to join my research. Projects range from crash analysis and AI for safety to EV charging and low-altitude airspace, and I mentor undergraduate and graduate students. If any of this sounds interesting, send me an email with a short note about your background and what you want to work on.