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The Concept of Cooperative Automation in Cars: Results from the Experiment "Overtaking on Highways"
Get PDFAs the interaction between human and machine continues to change, due to the increase of system functionalities, a concept of human-car cooperation covering the effects of this change has been developed. Proceeding from this concept, an initial analysis of the actual human-car interaction including the wishes of today’s drivers will be the main subject of this paper. An experimental design, based on the concept of cooperation and preliminary studies, was developed. First results on the quality of cooperation, situational awareness and trust indicate the concept’s profound adaptableness to future human-car interactions
Driver Workload Management During Cell Phone Conversations Chip Wood,
Get PDFThis study tested if intelligently suspending cell phone conversationsduring demanding driving situations would improve driver’s performance andlessen subjective workload. Using a simulator, drivers followed a lead carapproximately 2 secs ahead and braking randomly. The drivers engaged inspontaneous “Neutral,” “Intense,” or “No” cell phone conversations with theexperimenter, who sustained all conversations with scripted non-directiveutterances. When the lead car started to decelerate, the conversations weresuspended or not for the duration of the event. Objective driving performance andsubjective “workload” estimates showed significant differences betweenconversation topic types. Engaging in an “Intense” conversation duringdeceleration produced (1) smaller decreases in forward velocity, and (2) delays inreleasing the accelerator, applying the brake and decelerating. Suspending“Intense” conversations counteracted these effects, producing larger decreases inforward velocity, and speeding up drivers’ responses on the vehicle controls.Furthermore, suspending conversations clearly increased drivers’ headways andtemporal distances with the lead car. The results show that cell phoneconversation intensity has significant effects on both performance and workload.The results also show positive effects of suspending cell phone conversationsduring critical driving situations on driver performance, thus perhapscounteracting the negative effects of the workload imposed by the conversations.Subjective ratings and value judgments for this system indicate generally positiveassessments of the system
Peripheral Motion Contrast Sensitivity and Older Drivers' Detection Failure Accident Risk
Get PDFEighteen older drivers (66-88) and their passengers both reported on the drivers’ performance using detection deficit questionnaires that elicited responses related to attention and to speed and accuracy of object motion perception. The measure of detection deficit was an equally weighted combination of standardized responses from the 17-item driver questionnaire and the 11-item passenger questionnaire. Peripheral stationary and drifting contrast sensitivity was determined for 0.4 cycles per degree sine wave gratings at fifteen degrees eccentricity. The temporal two-alternative forced choice staircase procedure consisted of randomly interleaved left and right visual field grating presentations. The correlation between log10 motion contrast sensitivity and detection deficit was -.63 (p < .01), between age and detection deficit was .56 (p < .05), and between age and log10 motion contrast sensitivity was -.54 (p < .05). The partial correlation between log10 motion sensitivity and detection deficit, independent of age, was -.47 (p = .054). We concluded that some age-related driving performance deficits are associated with reduced sensitivity to motion in the visual periphery. Peripheral motion contrast sensitivity was discussed in relation to “useful field of view” (UFOV®) measures of visual function, and offered as a primary deficit of high risk drivers with mild Alzheimer's disease
Psychophysiological Measures of Driver Distraction and Workload While Intoxicated
Get PDFThe crash risk associated with cell phone use while driving is acontentious issue. Many states are introducing Advanced Traveler InformationSystems (ATIS) that may be accessed with cell phones while driving (e.g., 511Traveler Information Services). In these contexts, there is a need for relevantresearch to determine the risk of cell phone use. This study compared driverperformance while conversing on a hands-free cell phone to conditions ofoperating common in-vehicle controls (e.g., radio, fan, air conditioning) andalcohol intoxication (BAC 0.08). In addition, the study examined the combinedeffects of being distracted and being intoxicated given that there may be a higherrisk of a crash if the driver engages in a combination of risk factors. Duringsimulated traffic scenarios, resource allocation was assessed through an eventrelatedpotential (ERP) novelty oddball paradigm. Intoxicated drivers were lessattentive to all stimuli and drivers engaged in secondary tasks had weakerresponses to unexpected novel sounds in brain regions associated with evaluativeprocessing. Drivers conversing on the cell phone and in-vehicle tasks while soberhad lower accuracy during the target tone task than intoxicated drivers notcompleting any secondary task
The Perceptions of Emergency Vehicle Drivers Using Simulation in Driver Training
Get PDFThe number of accidents over the past decade involving emergencyvehicles is a major concern for emergency service providers. This study assessedthe perception of adding a driving simulator to a traditional training program. Thesample population consisted of Emergency Medical Technician students attendingthe National EMS Academy in Lafayette, LA. The group self-scheduled whichday they would attend the driving portion of the class. This resulted in 52participants in the control group and 50 participants in the treatment group. Thetreatment group used a driving simulator prior to driving on the competencycourse.Surveys were used to assess the emergency vehicle operators’ perceptions ofusing a driving simulator as part of an emergency vehicle training course. Thesimulator allowed the treatment group to understand the course prior to actuallydriving the course. The control group thought the simulator would have affordedthem the opportunity to learn the course before actually driving the course. Bothgroups thought the simulator should be a part of the driver training course, but didnot see the simulator replacing actual driving experience. Emergency MedicalTechnician students in both the treatment and control group thought the simulatorwould improve their driving ability
Cognitive Abilities Related to Driving Performance in a Simulator and Crashing on the Road
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between performances on standardized neuropsychological measures of cognitive abilities, simulated driving performance, and state crash records in drivers with cognitive decline due to aging and dementia. Participants were 202 experienced older adult drivers ages 55 years and older: 70 had mild dementia due to probable early Alzheimer’s disease and 132 had no neurologic disease. All completed a battery of neuropsychological tests and drove contemporaneously on a high fidelity simulator. The participants’ State Department of Transportation driving records were monitored for up to two years after testing. The simulator composite score, reflecting overall driving ability, was significantly correlated with overall cognitive ability, as indexed by the neuropsychology composite score, as well as with individual cognitive tests of attention, memory, visuospatial and visuomotor abilities. Drivers who crashed during an intersection incursion scenario performed significantly worse on the composite measure of cognitive function than those who successfully steered around the incurring vehicle. Crashers had specific cognitive deficits on measures of visuomotor abilities and attention. Memory test performances for both verbal information and visual material were associated with subsequent on-road crashes. These findings provide support for the validity of driving simulation as a safe means of evaluating a range of driving responses that cannot be tested on the road, and suggest that relatively simple and inexpensive neuropsychological tests of specific cognitive abilities could be used to help evaluate older drivers’ risk of unsafe drivin
Comparison Between Visual and Tactile Signal Detection Tasks Applied to the Safety Assessment of In-Vehicle Information Systems
Get PDFThe Peripheral Detection Task (PDT) is a widely applied method for safety assessment of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). In this study, the PDT was compared to a Tactile Detection Task (TDT) where the visual stimulus used for the PDT was replaced by tactile vibrators, placed on the wrists. The sensitivity of the two methods to different cognitive and visual secondary tasks was investigated in different real-world driving conditions. The results showed that both methods were sensitive to visual and cognitive secondary task load in a range of different driving environments.The sensitivity was generally stronger for the TDT than the PDT. It was concluded that the TDT could be a viable alternative to the PDT for IVIS assessment
Change Detection Performance Under Divided Attention with Dynamic Driving Scenarios
Get PDFThis study investigated the effect of cognitive load on the relationshipbetween confidence in detecting changes and actual change detectionperformance. Two experiments simulated glancing away from the roadway byperiodically blanking the driver’s view for one second. Experiments wereconducted in a driving simulator where participants were asked to detect changesin the location and appearance of other vehicles while driving on a multi-lanesuburban roadway. In addition, cognitive load was imposed using messages thatparticipants were asked to listen to and answer questions about. Participants’sensitivity (d’) to vehicle changes was calculated and compared with subjectiveratings of confidence in detecting those changes. Results indicated a positiverelationship between d’ and confidence, suggesting that participants were aware ofthe factors that influenced their change-detection performance. However, thestrength of the relationship was situation-dependent. The strength of therelationship decreased when the detection task was more difficult and in thepresence of cognitive load
An Evaluation of Driving Ability in a Simulator: A Good Predictor of Driving Ability After Stroke?
Get PDFThe aim of this pilot-study was to evaluate the predictive quality of adriving evaluation in a simulator for people with stroke. Twenty-seven participantswith stroke completed a driving evaluation in a technically advanced drivingsimulator. The participants also completed an on-road driving evaluation with a passor fail outcome. Measures generated from the assessment tool, P-Drive, werecompared to the on-road driving evaluation, in order to determine a definitive cut-offscore. The definitive cut-off score of P-Drive was determined to 1,5 logits, howeverthis score did not show satisfactory sensitivity. Instead of a definitive cut-off score, acut-off zone of 1,4 to 1,7 logits was recommended. Six drivers within the cut-offzone were recommended for further evaluation of their driving ability
Sex and the Single-Vehicle Crash
Get PDFThe characteristics of the more than 15 million drivers involved in traffic crashes in the US annually depart markedly from those of a random sample of the US population. In particular, males are far more likely to crash than females, and young drivers far more likely to crash than older drivers. Sex and age differences are examined not only for drivers, but for road users who are not drivers, and for situations unrelated to traffic. Consistent differences are found, and these relate to intrinsic hormonal differences. While much of the traffic-crash problem originates at a fundamental behavioral and physiological level, this does not mean that there cannot be highly effective countermeasures. However, it does underline that such intrinsic human characteristics must be acknowledged when countermeasures are sought