729 research outputs found
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The Potential for IVDR Feedback and Parental Guidance to Improve Novice Young Drivers’ Behavior
No full textYoung male drivers are well known for their increased involvement in road crashes when moving to the independent driving phase. This study examines the potential of IVDR (In-Vehicle Data Recorder) systems, which provide feedback on driving performances, and parental monitoring to restrain young male drivers’ aggressive driving behavior. The IVDR system was installed in the family car of young drivers for a period of 12 months, starting in the accompanied driving phase and continuing to the first nine months of independent driving. The system documents events based on measurements of extreme G-forces in the vehicles. 242 families of young male drivers participated in the study. They were randomly allocated into 4 groups: (1) FFNG- Family Feedback No Guidance- all members of the family were exposed to feedback on their own driving behavior and that of the other family members; (2) FFPG- Family Feedback Parental Guidance - similar to the previous group with the addition of personal guidance given to parents on ways to enhance their involvement and monitoring of their sons’ driving; (3) IFNG- Individual Feedback No Guidance- each driver received feedback only on his own driving behavior; (4) CNTL- a control group that received no feedback or parental guidance. The collected data from the IVDR was analyzed and the results indicate substantial benefits to drivers in the FFPG group in which parents received personal guidance to enhance their parental involvement and feedback on their son’s driving behavior, compared to the CNTL group which did not receive any feedback
The Tactile Detection Response Task: Preliminary Validation for Measuring the Attentional Effects of Cognitive Load
No full textImproved measures of the attentional effects of cognitive load are needed to reduce potential crashes caused by secondary tasks performed while driving. The Tactile Detection Response Task (TDRT) in the proposed ISO Draft Standard WD17488 was tested in laboratory and on-road venues with 16 and 15 subjects, respectively. A sensitivity test used a purely cognitive load increase from an easy (0- back) to hard (1-back) auditory-vocal task. The TDRT response time increased by 90±21 msec in the laboratory, and by 135±34 msec on the road, while the miss rate increased by 4% in the laboratory and 5% on the road, thus validating TDRT sensitivity to an increase in purely cognitive load. A specificity test used a visual load increase with little cognitive load difference from an easy to hard visual-manual “Surrogate Reference Task” (SuRT), to which the TDRT should not respond. The TDRT response time and miss rate to the SuRT did not increase in the laboratory or road as a result of the increased visual load, providing preliminary validation that the TDRT may be both specific and sensitive to the attentional effects of cognitive load
Driver Drowsiness Immediately before Crashes – A Comparative Investigation of EEG Pattern Recognition
No full textPeriodogram and other spectral power estimation methods are established in quantitative EEG analysis. Their outcome in case of drowsy subjects fulfilling a sustained attention task is difficult to interpret. Two novel kind of EEG analysis based on pattern recognition were proposed recently, namely the microsleep (MS) and the alpha burst (AB) pattern recognition. We compare both methods by applying them to the same experimental data and relating their output variables to two independent variables of driver drowsiness. The latter was an objective lane tracking performance variable and the first was a subjective variable of self-experienced sleepiness. Results offer remarkable differences between both EEG analysis methodologies. The expected increase with time since sleep as well as with time on task, which also exhibited in both independent variables, was not identified after applying AB recognition. The EEG immediately before fatigue related crashes contained both patterns. MS patterns were remarkably more frequent before crashes; almost every crash (98.5 %) was preceded by MS patterns, whereas less than 64 % of all crashes had AB patterns within a 10 sec pre-crash interval
Active Traffic Management Sign Comprehension
No full textActive traffic management (ATM) strategies are being deployed in the United States to deliver additional information to drivers. Per lane variable speed limit and lane control signs are being deployed along with dynamic message signs that display warning and other motorist information. The Manual of Uniformed Traffic Control Devices currently does not provide guidelines or standards for these signs. The present research is the first in a series of studies aimed at providing data that can be used to develop guidelines and standards. This study used laboratory procedures to examine comprehension and preference for various variable speed limit and lane control sign messages. The results indicate that while participants sometimes make errors interpreting some advisory messages, they generally correctly interpreted the lane control and speed limit ATM signs
Simulator Sickness Questionnaire: Twenty Years Later
No full textThe present study used simulator sickness questionnaire data from nine different studies to validate and explore the work of the most widely used simulator sickness index. The ability to predict participant dropouts as a result of simulator sickness symptoms was also evaluated. Overall, participants experiencing nausea and nausea-related symptoms were the most likely to fail to complete simulations. Further, simulation specific factors that increase the discrepancy between visual and vestibular perceptions are also related to higher participant study dropout rates. As a result, it is suggested that simulations minimize turns, curves, stops, et cetera, if possible, in order to minimize participant simulation sickness symptoms. The present study highlights several factors to attend to in order to minimize elevated participant simulation sickness
Drivers and Driver Assistance Systems: How Well do They Match?
No full textNew technology is appearing in vehicles that increasingly allows them to “know” where they are, their relationships to other vehicles on the road, and whether a crash is imminent. At the same time, and more quickly, drivers are becoming more connected to the world outside their cars through similar advances in electronic technology. The first trend promises to help drivers prevent crashes while the second raises fears of increasingly chaotic driving as drivers’ minds are elsewhere than on the driving task. Whether the promise of crash avoidance or the fear of driving chaos is realized depends on how drivers actually drive and whether the assumptions made about how they drive are correct. In fact, the US has not seen increases in crash risk as drivers’ use of electronics has increased nor are all crash avoidance systems having the expected benefits. In addition to exploring these data, the presentation will address some of the assumptions made about driving (e.g., that driving is difficult, that it requires fully conscious attention, that drivers will respond to information about their vehicles, and others) and whether those assumptions appear to fit the data on crash avoidance and distracted driving. It also will discuss “old” technology (e.g., roundabout intersections and automated enforcement) that may complement vehicle electronics in bringing drivers’ wandering attentions back to the road
Towards Operationalizing Driver Distraction
No full textDriver distraction has been the subject of much research interest and scientific inquiry. Operationalizing driver distraction is a complex task—one that is necessary for advancing both science and public policy in this domain. While many operational definitions can be gathered from the literature, gaps are common. In order to fill such gaps, 21 experts reviewed 55 driver distraction definitions in the literature. Aided by the results of a pre-workshop questionnaire the experts narrowed these definitions. The Regan et al. (2011) definition of driver distraction was agreed to at a workshop. Subsidiary terms related to this definition were defined to improve clarity and applicability of the definition. It is hoped that a consistent and agreed definition of driver distraction and its associated terms will advance scientific progress in understanding and measuring driver distraction
Age Differences in Driving-Specific Tests of Executive Function
No full textThe purpose of the present study was to examine age differences in executive function as measured by novel driving-specific tests of executive function using a novel driving simulator. Developmental changes in executive function have been implicated as possible contributing factors to elevated crash statistics for both older adult (over age 65) and adolescent (between age 15 and 20) populations, however for different reasons. Poorer older adult driving performance has been partially attributed to general age-related cognitive decline in executive function mediated by age-related frontal-lobe atrophy and neural disconnection. Immature executive function has been implicated in poorer adolescent driving performance and is thought to be expressed in situations where the developmentally high sensitivity of the socio-emotional reward system outcompetes the regulatory influence of the under developed executive system. Using a new, high fidelity, virtual reality driving simulator, we created drivingspecific tests to assess executive function. These operational tests employed driving-relevant stimuli, with driving-relevant challenges, that required drivingrelevant responses, in a driving-relevant context. Fifteen older adult and 20 adolescent drivers completed these driving-specific executive function tests. We hypothesized that poorer older adult driving performance would be reflected on these driving specific tests of executive function due to general cognitive decline and that, given the absence of social-emotional reward, adolescents would outperform older adults. Analyses of both bivariate correlations and group comparisons generally supported these predictions
Sensitivity of Detection Response Task (DRT) to the Driving Demand and Task Difficulty
No full textThe Detection Response Task (DRT) is currently discussed in the ISO working group TC22/SC13/WG8 as the basis of a standard to assess the effect of cognitive load on driver attention. This paper investigates the sensitivity of the method to cognitive and visual-manual tasks of different levels of difficulty and to different levels of driving demand. Three versions of DRT have been used in a simulator experiment: two visual versions (HDRT and RDRT) and one tactile version (TDRT). The results show that response times to DRT stimuli increase with the driving demand and with the difficulty of the cognitive auditory task. However, no difference is registered between visual-manual tasks of different levels of difficulty, which is explained in terms of attentional allocation and ceiling effect
Using Feedback from Naturalistic Driving to Improve Treatment Adherence in Drivers with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
No full textWe are studying the effects of individualized feedback upon adherence with therapy (CPAP) in ongoing research aimed at improving driving safety in at-risk individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The feedback includes specific samples of the individual’s own naturalistic driving record, both alert and drowsy, and record of CPAP adherence. We report on this methodology, provide data examples of CPAP usage, and show preliminary data on the results in the first eleven drivers who received this intervention