This study proposes an interpretable prediction framework with literature-informed fine-tuned (LIFT) LLMs for truck driving risk prediction. The framework integrates an LLM-driven Inference Core that predicts and explains truck driving risk, a Literature Processing Pipeline that filters and summarizes domain-specific literature into a literature knowledge base, and a Result Evaluator that evaluates the prediction performance as well as the interpretability of the LIFT LLM. After fine-tuning on a real-world truck driving risk dataset, the LIFT LLM achieved accurate risk prediction, outperforming benchmark models by 26.7% in recall and 10.1% in F1-score. Furthermore, guided by the literature knowledge base automatically constructed from 299 domain papers, the LIFT LLM produced variable importance ranking consistent with that derived from the benchmark model, while demonstrating robustness in interpretation results to various data sampling conditions. The LIFT LLM also identified potential risky scenarios by detecting key combination of variables in truck driving risk, which were verified by PERMANOVA tests. Finally, we demonstrated the contribution of the literature knowledge base and the fine-tuning process in the interpretability of the LIFT LLM, and discussed the potential of the LIFT LLM in data-driven knowledge discovery.

Training deep learning methods on small time series datasets that also include corrupted samples is challenging. Diffusion models have shown to be effective to generate realistic and synthetic data, and correct corrupted samples through imputation. In this context, this paper focuses on generating synthetic yet realistic samples of automotive time series data. We show that denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPMs) can effectively solve this task by applying them to a challenging vehicle CAN-dataset with long-term data and a limited number of samples. Therefore, we propose a hybrid generative approach that combines autoregressive and non-autoregressive techniques. We evaluate our approach with two recently proposed DDPM architectures for time series generation, for which we propose several improvements. To evaluate the generated samples, we propose three metrics that quantify physical correctness and test track adherence. Our best model is able to outperform even the training data in terms of physical correctness, while showing plausible driving behavior. Finally, we use our best model to successfully impute physically implausible regions in the training data, thereby improving the data quality.

Driving behavior big data leverages multi-sensor telematics to understand how people drive and powers applications such as risk evaluation, insurance pricing, and targeted intervention. Usage-based insurance (UBI) built on these data has become mainstream. Telematics-captured near-miss events (NMEs) provide a timely alternative to claim-based risk, but weekly NMEs are sparse, highly zero-inflated, and behaviorally heterogeneous even after exposure normalization. Analyzing multi-sensor telematics and ADAS warnings, we show that the traditional statistical models underfit the dataset. We address these challenges by proposing a set of zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) frameworks that learn latent behavior groups and fit offset-based count models via EM to yield calibrated, interpretable weekly risk predictions. Using a naturalistic dataset from a fleet of 354 commercial drivers over a year, during which the drivers completed 287,511 trips and logged 8,142,896 km in total, our results show consistent improvements over baselines and prior telematics models, with lower AIC/BIC values in-sample and better calibration out-of-sample. We also conducted sensitivity analyses on the EM-based grouping for the number of clusters, finding that the gains were robust and interpretable. Practically, this supports context-aware ratemaking on a weekly basis and fairer premiums by recognizing heterogeneous driving styles.

--Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in the automotive industry for applications such as driving style classification, which aims to improve road safety, efficiency, and personalize user experiences. While deep learning (DL) models, such as Long Short-T erm Memory (LSTM) networks, excel at this task, their "black-box" nature limits interpretability and trust. This paper proposes a machine learning (ML)-based method that balances high accuracy with interpretability. We introduce a high-quality dataset, "CARLA-Drive", and leverage ML techniques like Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (XG-Boost), and Support V ector Machine (SVM), which are efficient, lightweight, and interpretable. In addition, we apply the SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) explainability technique to provide personalized recommendations for safer driving. Achieving an accuracy of 0.92 on a three-class classification task with both RF and XGBoost classifiers, our approach matches DL models in performance while offering transparency and practicality for real-world deployment in intelligent transportation systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) has significantly reshaped the automotive industry, particularly in the development of semi-autonomous and intelligent vehicles.

Ensuring realistic traffic dynamics is a prerequisite for simulation platforms to evaluate the reliability of self-driving systems before deployment in the real world. Because most road users are human drivers, reproducing their diverse behaviors within simulators is vital. Existing solutions, however, typically rely on either handcrafted heuristics or narrow data-driven models, which capture only fragments of real driving behaviors and offer limited driving style diversity and interpretability. To address this gap, we introduce HDSim, an HD traffic generation framework that combines cognitive theory with large language model (LLM) assistance to produce scalable and realistic traffic scenarios within simulation platforms. The framework advances the state of the art in two ways: (i) it introduces a hierarchical driver model that represents diverse driving style traits, and (ii) it develops a Perception-Mediated Behavior Influence strategy, where LLMs guide perception to indirectly shape driver actions. Experiments reveal that embedding HDSim into simulation improves detection of safety-critical failures in self-driving systems by up to 68% and yields realism-consistent accident interpretability.

This paper presents a methodology to process large-scale naturalistic driving studies (NDS) to describe the driving behavior for five vehicle metrics, including speed, speeding, lane keeping, following distance, and headway, contextualized by roadway characteristics, vehicle classes, and driver demographics. Such descriptions of normative driving behaviors can aid in the development of vehicle safety and intelligent transportation systems. The methodology is demonstrated using data from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) NDS, which includes over 34 million miles of driving across more than 3,400 drivers. Summaries of each driving metric were generated using vehicle, GPS, and forward radar data. Additionally, interactive online analytics tools were developed to visualize and compare driving behavior across groups through dynamic data selection and grouping. For example, among drivers on 65-mph roads for the SHRP 2 NDS, females aged 16-19 exceeded the speed limit by 7.5 to 15 mph slightly more often than their male counterparts, and younger drivers maintained headways under 1.5 seconds more frequently than older drivers. This work supports better vehicle systems and safer infrastructure by quantifying normative driving behaviors and offers a methodology for analyzing NDS datasets for cross group comparisons.

Human drivers exhibit individual preferences regarding driving style. Adapting autonomous vehicles to these preferences is essential for user trust and satisfaction. However, existing end-to-end driving approaches often rely on predefined driving styles or require continuous user feedback for adaptation, limiting their ability to support dynamic, context-dependent preferences. We propose a novel approach using multi-objective reinforcement learning (MORL) with preference-driven optimization for end-to-end autonomous driving that enables runtime adaptation to driving style preferences. Preferences are encoded as continuous weight vectors to modulate behavior along interpretable style objectives$\unicode{x2013}$including efficiency, comfort, speed, and aggressiveness$\unicode{x2013}$without requiring policy retraining. Our single-policy agent integrates vision-based perception in complex mixed-traffic scenarios and is evaluated in diverse urban environments using the CARLA simulator. Experimental results demonstrate that the agent dynamically adapts its driving behavior according to changing preferences while maintaining performance in terms of collision avoidance and route completion.

Anomaly detection in connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) is crucial for maintaining safe and reliable transportation networks, as CAVs can be susceptible to sensor malfunctions, cyber-attacks, and unexpected environmental disruptions. This study explores an anomaly detection approach by simulating vehicle behavior, generating a dataset that represents typical and atypical vehicular interactions. The dataset includes time-series data of position, speed, and acceleration for multiple connected autonomous vehicles. We utilized machine learning models to effectively identify abnormal driving patterns. First, we applied a stacked Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to capture temporal dependencies and sequence-based anomalies. The stacked LSTM model processed the sequential data to learn standard driving behaviors. Additionally, we deployed a Random Forest model to support anomaly detection by offering ensemble-based predictions, which enhanced model interpretability and performance. The Random Forest model achieved an R2 of 0.9830, MAE of 5.746, and a 95th percentile anomaly threshold of 14.18, while the stacked LSTM model attained an R2 of 0.9998, MAE of 82.425, and a 95th percentile anomaly threshold of 265.63. These results demonstrate the models' effectiveness in accurately predicting vehicle trajectories and detecting anomalies in autonomous driving scenarios.

Understanding the relationship between mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and driving behavior is essential for enhancing road safety, particularly among older adults. This study introduces a novel approach by incorporating specific trip destinations-such as home, work, medical appointments, social activities, and errands-using geohashing to analyze the driving habits of older drivers in Nebraska. We employed a two-fold methodology that combines data visualization with advanced machine learning models, including C5.0, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machines, to assess the effectiveness of these location-based variables in predicting cognitive impairment. Notably, the C5.0 model showed a robust and stable performance, achieving a median recall of 0.68, which indicates that our methodology accurately identifies cognitive impairment in drivers 68\% of the time. This emphasizes our model's capacity to reduce false negatives, a crucial factor given the profound implications of failing to identify impaired drivers. Our findings underscore the innovative use of life-space variables in understanding and predicting cognitive decline, offering avenues for early intervention and tailored support for affected individuals.

Accurate and interpretable car-following models are essential for traffic simulation and autonomous vehicle development. However, classical models like the Intelligent Driver Model (IDM) are fundamentally limited by their parsimonious and single-regime structure. They fail to capture the multi-modal nature of human driving, where a single driving state (e.g., speed, relative speed, and gap) can elicit many different driver actions. This forces the model to average across distinct behaviors, reducing its fidelity and making its parameters difficult to interpret. To overcome this, we introduce a regime-switching framework that allows driving behavior to be governed by different IDM parameter sets, each corresponding to an interpretable behavioral mode. This design enables the model to dynamically switch between interpretable behavioral modes, rather than averaging across diverse driving contexts. We instantiate the framework using a Factorial Hidden Markov Model with IDM dynamics (FHMM-IDM), which explicitly separates intrinsic driving regimes (e.g., aggressive acceleration, steady-state following) from external traffic scenarios (e.g., free-flow, congestion, stop-and-go) through two independent latent Markov processes. Bayesian inference via Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) is used to jointly estimate the regime-specific parameters, transition dynamics, and latent state trajectories. Experiments on the HighD dataset demonstrate that FHMM-IDM uncovers interpretable structure in human driving, effectively disentangling internal driver actions from contextual traffic conditions and revealing dynamic regime-switching patterns. This framework provides a tractable and principled solution to modeling context-dependent driving behavior under uncertainty, offering improvements in the fidelity of traffic simulations, the efficacy of safety analyses, and the development of more human-centric ADAS.