Method and electronic monitoring system for identifying a detrimental traffic situation

A method for determining an adverse traffic situation of a road user, the method comprising:

• acquiring first position information indicating a first position of the road user and first uncertainty information indicating a first position detection uncertainty of the road user;
• acquiring second position information for ascertaining a second position of a second road user and second uncertainty information indicating a second position detection uncertainty of the second road user;
• converting the first uncertainty information into a first covariance matrix for describing a first location-dependent probability of presence of the road user in connection with a first position of the road user, wherein the uncertainty information of the road user comprises an uncertainty ellipse defined by a major axis, a minor axis, and an orientation, and the converting is performed using a closed-form formula to transform said uncertainty ellipse into the first covariance matrix;
• converting the second uncertainty information into a second covariance matrix for describing a second location-dependent probability of presence of the second road user in connection with a second position of the second road user, wherein the uncertainty information of the second road user comprises an uncertainty ellipse defined by a major axis, a minor axis, and an orientation, and said converting is performed using the closed-form formula to transform the uncertainty ellipse into the second covariance matrix;
• and
• determining the presence of an adverse traffic situation between the road user and the second road user based on the first covariance matrix and the second covariance matrix;
• wherein the determining comprises performing a location-dependent superimposition of the probabilities of presence of the road user as described by the first covariance matrix with the probabilities of the presence of the second road user as described by the second covariance matrix, wherein the determining further comprises summing the first covariance matrix and the second covariance matrix to generate a combined covariance matrix representing a probability distribution of a relative position between the road user and the second road user, applying at least one correlation coefficient to the combined covariance matrix to account for correlation between the first position detection uncertainty and the second position detection uncertainty, and performing the location-dependent superimposition of the probabilities of presence of the road user and the second road user exclusively within a predefined risk area around the road user, the risk area corresponding to a detection area of a surroundings detection device of the road user;
• and
• outputting a control signal to an electronic control device of a driver assistance system or an automated driving control system to control an operation of the driver assistance system or the automated driving control system based on presence of the adverse traffic situation.