A Configurable Simulation Framework for Safety Assessment of Vulnerable Road Users

TL;DR

This paper introduces a lightweight, configurable simulation framework aligned with Euro NCAP protocols for assessing the safety of vulnerable road users, enabling rapid, repeatable testing for advanced vehicle systems.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel, extensible simulation platform with a rule-based FSM for vehicle automation and V2X integration, facilitating VRU safety validation.

Findings

Framework supports diverse, user-defined scenarios

Enables rapid, repeatable VRU safety testing

Integrates perception and V2X for safety margin analysis

Abstract

Ensuring the safety of vulnerable road users (VRUs), including pedestrians, cyclists, electric scooter riders, and motorcyclists, remains a major challenge for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and connected and automated vehicles (CAV) technologies. Real-world VRU tests are expensive and sometimes cannot capture or repeat rare and hazardous events. In this paper, we present a lightweight, configurable simulation framework that follows European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) VRU testing protocols. A rule-based finite-state machine (FSM) is developed as a motion planner to provide vehicle automation during the VRU interaction. We also integrate ego-vehicle perception and idealized Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) awareness to demonstrate safety margins in different scenarios. This work provides an extensible platform for rapid and repeatable VRU safety validation, paving the way for broader case-study deployment in diverse, user-defined settings, which will be essential for building a more VRU-friendly and sustainable intelligent transportation system.