Driving on familiar roads: Automaticity and inattention blindness

This paper describes our research into the processes that govern driver attention and behavior in familiar, well-practiced situations. The experiment examined the effects of extended practice on inattention blindness and detection of changes to the driving environment in a high-fidelity driving simulator. Participants were paid to drive a simulated road regularly over 3 months of testing. A range of measures, including detection task performance and driving performance, were collected over the course of 20 sessions. Performance from a yoked Control Group who experienced the same road scenarios in a single session was also measured. The data showed changes in what drivers reported noticing indicative of inattention blindness, and declining ratings of mental demand suggesting that many participants were “driving without awareness”. Extended practice also resulted in increased sensitivity for detecting changes to road features associated with vehicle guidance and improved performance on an embedded vehicle detection task (detection of a specific vehicle type). The data provide new light on a “tandem model” of driver behavior that includes both explicit and implicit processes involved in driving performance. The findings also suggest reasons drivers are most likely to crash at locations very near their homes.     

How drivers adapt their behaviour to changes in task complexity: The role of secondary task demands and road environment factors

The present study investigates the impact of different sources of task complexity such as driving demands and secondary task demands on driver behaviour. Although much research has been dedicated to understanding the impact of secondary task demands or specific road traffic environments on driving performance, there is little information on how drivers adapt their behaviour to their combined presence. This paper aims to describe driver behaviour while negotiating different sources of task complexity, including mobile phone use while driving (i.e., calling and texting) and different road environments (i.e., straight segments, curves, hills, tunnels, and curves on hills). A driving simulator experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different road scenarios and different types of distraction while driving. The collected data was used to estimate driving behaviour through a Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) with repeated measures. The analysis was divided into two phases. Phase one aimed to evaluate driver performance under the presence and absence of pedestrians and oncoming traffic, different lanes width and different types of distraction. The second phase analysed driver behaviour when driving through different road geometries and lane widths and under different types of distraction. The results of the experiment indicated that drivers are likely to overcorrect position in the vehicle lane in the presence of pedestrians and oncoming traffic. The effect of road geometry on driver behaviour was found to be greater than the effect of mobile phone distraction. Curved roads and hills were found to influence preferred speeds and lateral position the most. The results of this investigation also show that drivers under visual-manual distraction had a higher standard deviation of speed and lateral position compared to the cognitive distraction and the non-distraction condition.     

Aging and driving in a complex world: Exploring age differences in attentional demand while driving

We investigated the relationship between attention and road complexity in a convenience sample of older drivers. The study sought to examine the impact of age-associated changes in attention in response to situations with an elevated risk of crash. Scenarios were manipulated in terms of handling and information processing complexity. Twenty-six older drivers and 30 mid-aged drivers completed a series of 20 simulated driving scenarios incorporating either rear-end or crossing path situations. For each scenario, the complexity of the driving environment was systematically manipulated in terms of vehicle handling and information processing elements. The attentional demands of half of the scenarios were assessed by means of a peripheral detection task (PDT) as well as through a subjective measure of overall difficulty. The results indicated that when information processing demands were increased, through the addition of traffic, and buildings, all participants exhibited greater workload regardless of age. While no main effects of age were observed, older drivers did exhibit significantly longer PDT responses in the low vehicle handling condition of the crossing path scenario. The results confirm the impact of environmental complexity on attention but suggest that the PDT may not be the most appropriate means of assessing attentional demands among older drivers, particularly when the driving complexity is elevated.     

Attentional Overload,stress, and simulate Driving Performance

This study tests the hypothesis that driver stress is associated with performance impairment because stress-prone drivers are vulnerable to overload of attentional resources. Eighty young-adult subjects performed a simulated drive concurrently with a grammatical reasoning task, presented either visually or auditorily. Priority assigned to the 2 tasks was also manipulated. In general, the patterns of dual-task interference predicted by attentional resource theory were not found, although interference was apparent with the auditory reasoning task. Measures of vulnerability to driver stress and intrusive cognitions were related to impaired lateral control mainly when task demands were relatively low, contrary to the overload hypothesis. These data indicate that performance in this task paradigm is characterized by adaptive mobilization of effort to meet changing task demands. Stressed drivers adapted to high levels of demand fairly efficiently, but they may be at risk of performance impairment when the task requires relatively little active control. Advantages and disadvantages of the simulator approach are discussed.     

Driving without awareness: The effects of practice and automaticity on attention and driving

This research examined the development of proceduralised “driving without awareness” in a driving simulator by paying participants to drive a simulated road regularly over 12 weeks of testing. This longitudinal research paradigm is a significant departure from previous studies which have examined drivers in a conscious attentional mode using short experimental sessions or cross-sectional designs comparing expert and novice performance. During each session, participants took two “trips” on the simulated road; sometimes travelling on a “to and from” journey on one half of the road, sometimes traversing the entire road in one direction. A range of measures, including driving performance, vehicle detection, perceptual speed regulation, and hazard reactions were collected. The results showed the development of driving patterns and changes in object detection performance indicative of proceduralised driving. Speed and lane position variability quickly decreased with practice, as did participants’ subjective experiences of driving difficulty. Performance on an embedded detection task appeared to become a proceduralised part of the driving task, becoming highly efficient in later stages of the experiment. The changes in attentional focus and driving performance over time provide new light on previous research findings and allow us to critically re-examine several established models of driver behaviour.     

Effects of hands-free cellular phone conversational cognitive tasks on driving stability based on driving simulation experiment

Driver distraction due to cellular phone usage is a major contributing factor to road crashes. This study compares the effects of conversational cognitive tasks using hands-free cellular phone on driving performance under three distraction conditions: (1) no distraction (no cellular conversation), (2) normal conversation (non-emotional cellular conversation), and (3) seven-level mathematical calculations. A car-following scenario was implemented using a driving simulator. Thirty young drivers with an average age of 24.1 years maintained a constant speed and distance between the subject vehicle and a leading vehicle on the driving simulator, and then respond to the leading vehicle’s emergency stop. The driving performances were assessed by collecting and statistically analyzing several variables of maneuver stability: the drivers’ brake reaction times, driving speed fluctuation, car-following distance undulation, and car-following time-headway undulation. The results revealed that normal conversation on a hands-free cellular phone impaired driving performance. The degree of impairment caused by normal calculation was equivalent to the distraction caused by Level 3 mathematical calculations according to the seven-level calculation baseline. The calculation difficulty of Level 3 is one double-digit figure plus a single-digit figure, and non-carry addition mental arithmetic is required, e.g., 44 + 4. The results indicated that an increase in the level of complexity of the calculation task was associated with an increase in brake reaction time. The seven-level calculation-task baseline could be applied to measure additional distraction effects on driving performance for further comparison.     

A performance analysis of In-Car Music engagement as an indication of driver distraction and risk

Drivers engage in a host of driving-unrelated tasks while on the road. They listen to music, sing-along, and accompany songs by pounding-out drum-kicks and syncopated rhythms on the steering wheel. However, there is controversy over in-cabin music: Does background music facilitate driver performance via increased arousal leading to more focused concentration, or cause distraction placing drivers at greater risk. In an effort to shed light on the debate, the current study evaluated music engagement by employing Music Performance Analyses with audio recordings from three simulated driving conditions. The results indicate that as the perceptual demands of the primary driving task increased, the secondary music activity was hampered, and subsequently sub-optimal vocal and percussive performances were demonstrated consisting of intonation errors, rhythmic inaccuracy, lack of synchrony, inconsistent and unstable temporal flow, neglect of text, and lyric replacement. The findings seem to point out that drivers allocate greater reserves to music than previously considered, and as drivers do not withdraw altogether from music engagement under high-demand driving conditions, driving may be under-resourced. Exploring active music engagement while driving might assist traffic safety researchers in decoding the effects of In-Car Music on driver behavior.     

The effect of a simulated hearing loss on performance of an auditory memory task in driving

Hearing loss has been shown to exacerbate the effect of auditory distraction on driving performance in older drivers. This study controlled for the potentially confounding factor of age-related cognitive decrements, by applying a simulated hearing loss in young, normally hearing individuals. Participants drove a simulated road whilst completing auditory tasks under simulated hearing loss or normal hearing conditions. Measures of vehicle control, eye movements and auditory task performance were recorded. Results showed that performing the auditory tasks whilst driving resulted in more stable lateral vehicle control and a reduction in gaze dispersion around the road centre. These trends were not exacerbated by simulated hearing loss, suggesting no effect of hearing loss on vehicle control or eye movement patterns during auditory task engagement. However, a small effect of simulated hearing loss on the performance of the most complex auditory task was observed during driving, suggesting that the use of sound-based in-vehicle systems may be problematic for hearing impaired individuals. Further research incorporating a wider variety of driving scenarios and auditory tasks is required in order to confirm the findings of this study.     

Strategic changes in task performance in simulated car driving as an adaptive response to task demands

Car drivers appear to reduce their driving speed in high task demand situations. Summala's [Safety Sci. 22 (1996) 103–117]; [in: J.A. Rothengatter, & E. Carbonell Vaya (Eds.), Traffic and Transport Psychology: Theory and Application, Pergamon, Oxford, 1997, pp. 41–52] model of behavioural adaptation (MBA) also assumes that drivers increase speed in low task demand situations or attend to additional tasks more. The present study investigated the relation between driving speed and task demands in simulated driving. Participants were observed under three speed conditions, driving fast, driving as if taking a driving test, and following a fast-driving car. The same route was driven twice under each of these speed conditions: once with and once without the concurrent performance of an auditory short-term memory task. All other things being equal, driving fast required more effort than driving more slowly, which was not compensated for by better memory performance. This refutes one assumption of the MBA. When following a fast-driving car, participants invested less effort than when driving fast. As auditory route guidance messages were embedded within the memory task, participants were forced to attend the memory task in all rides of the Fast and Accurate conditions, but not in the Car Following conditions. This can also explain why the memory task had no effect on cognitive effort. It is concluded that car drivers prioritise their task goals.     

Effect of electronic device use while driving on cardiovascular reactivity

Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death in people ages 5–34 in the US, and secondary task engagement, such as talking on a cell phone, is a leading contributor to motor vehicle collisions. The negative effects of secondary task engagement on driving performance has become a prominent recent topic of study given the increasing amount of time drivers engage in distracted driving. However, few studies have examined the effects of secondary task engagement while driving on health related outcomes such as cardiovascular reactivity. Cardiovascular reactivity, as measured by heart rate and blood pressure, has been used in previous studies as a means of measuring effort in task engagement as well as a means to predict cardiovascular disease and stroke. This study investigates the effect of secondary task (talking on a cell phone, texting, and driving with no task) while driving in a simulator on cardiovascular reactivity. Using difference scores between baseline (a period of inactivity) and stimulus (driving with no task and driving with secondary tasks), a repeated measures analysis of variance using a mixed model approach was used to determine the effect of secondary task on cardiovascular reactivity. Findings indicated that talking on a cell phone while driving significantly increased cardiovascular reactivity via heart rate and blood pressure compared to driving with no task. Texting while driving did not differ significantly from driving with no task. This study demonstrates the need for more research on the long term effects of secondary tasks while driving on cardiovascular reactivity and for assessing the risks associated with secondary task use while driving on developing cardiovascular disease or stroke.     

Exploration of the effects of task-related fatigue on eye-motion features and its value in improving driver fatigue-related technology

Mental fatigue has been lacked attention in developing eye-tracking fatigue detection system for drivers. However, it has great influence on eye movement which could account for the poor validity of current fatigue detectors only focusing on sleep-related fatigue. This work sought to investigate the influence of two types of task-related mental fatigue on eye movement by examining 8 saccade-based, 3 blink-based, and 1 pupil-based metrics. We propose that two types of task-related fatigue caused by cognitive overload and prolonged underload will induce different physiological responses to eye-motion features. Twenty participants completed a vigilance task before and after a 1-h driving with a secondary task in a virtual simulation environment, while forty participants, divided equally into two groups, finished the same task before and after a 1-h and 1.5-h monotonous driving. T-test was applied to analyse the eye-motion, subjective and vigilance data during vigilance task. We found that overload driving made drivers vigilance ability decrease. The eye metrics showed different changes in underload and overload scenario. The blink duration, the mean velocity of saccade and saccade duration increased after 1-h overload driving, while the pupil diameter decreased. However, none of those changes were observed in 1.5-h underload driving, but saccade duration had a significant increase. The fatigue response to heavy demands over short periods of driving is different from the lighter demands over long periods in terms of eye-motion metrics. Considering mental fatigue in designing an eye-tracking fatigue detection system could possibly improve its accuracy.     

Driving in dangerous territory: Complexity and road-characteristics influence attentional demand

Car driving related attentional demands fluctuate according to route complexity and are found to be highly associated with motor-vehicle collisions (MVCs). The purpose of the current study was to explore the inherent attentional demands of scenarios that approximate common crash configurations. Sixty drivers completed a series of 20 simulated driving scenarios incorporating either rear-end or crossing path situations. For each scenario, the complexity of the driving environment was systematically manipulated in terms of vehicle handling and information processing elements. The attentional demands of each scenario were assessed by means of a peripheral detection task (PDT) as well as through a subjective measure of overall difficulty. Our results showed a reduction in PDT performance at intersections where information processing is increased as well as when handling maneuvers behind a lead vehicle were required. The results point to the appropriateness of the PDT as a sensitive measure of cognitive workload. The implications of these findings for future research and safety initiatives are discussed.     

Validation of the F-DBQ: A short (and accurate) risky driving behavior questionnaire for long-haul professional drivers

Although the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) remains the most known tool for assessing risky road behaviors among motor vehicle drivers, recent studies have raised several concerns on the specificity of both driving task conditions and behavioral repertory of certain segments of the driving population. Among them, long-haul (cargo) professional drivers constitute one of the “intensive driving” groups for which the existing adapted behavioral research tools are still very scarce.PurposeThe aim of the present study was to test and validate the F-DBQ (or “Freight Driving Behavior Questionnaire”), a short version of the DBQ adapted to the occupational driving conditions and typical road risk behaviors of freight drivers.MethodFor this cross-sectional study, a sample of n = 982 Spanish long-haul drivers with a mean age of 48.5 years was used, responding to a questionnaire composed of measures on road risk behaviors (DBQ), fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength – CIS and Need for Recovery Scale – NFR) and job stress (Effort–Reward Imbalance questionnaire – ERI).ResultsThrough competitive Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) with structural equation models, it was found that the F-DBQ has a clear dimensional structure, a fair goodness-of-fit, high factorial weights, internal consistency, convergent and discriminant validity and an improved fit to long haul drivers’ working conditions. Also, both (general and work-related) fatigue and job stress have shown to have a significant role in explaining risky road behaviors of long-haul drivers.ConclusionThe findings of this study support that an abbreviated version of the Driving Behavior Questionnaire (the F-DBQ) can be used to assess traffic violations and errors among long-haul drivers, in consideration of their specific task-related conditions (that qualitatively differ from other groups of drivers), with potential implications on the enforcement of occupational and road safety research.     

The effect of sleep-need and time-on-task on driver fatigue

Both sleep- and task-related factors are thought to contribute to driver fatigue, with each factor individually associated with deteriorated driving performance. However, the relative and combined effects of these factors in the context of monotonous driving have not been well studied. This study (N = 60) investigated lateral and longitudinal vehicle control, subjective fatigue and physiological response (EEG) during three 10-minute periods of time-on-task spread across a monotonous, 2-hour simulator drive. Level of physiological sleep-need was manipulated between participants by varying the instructed time spent in bed on the night before testing (≤5h or ≥ 8 h). In addition, half of the participants in each sleep group read the applicable speed limit from periodic roadside signs whereas the others performed an arithmetic calculation, displayed on the signs, to determine the speed limit. This task manipulation has been demonstrated to reduce performance decrements over time. Results demonstrated effects of time-on-task and sleep need on self-report ratings, an effect of time-on-task on EEG indices, and an interaction of sleep-need and time-on-task on an EEG index of mental workload and on the lateral control measure of driving performance. There were no significant effects on the measure of speed variability. These results confirm that both sleep-need and time-on-task negatively affect driver state, and that time-on-task decrements in driver performance can occur in the absence of heightened sleep-need. Results also suggest that drivers with heightened sleep-need could protect their performance for a short time, perhaps by exerting effort to compensate for reduced capacity. The secondary task did not counteract declining performance.     

Survey of New Zealand truck driver fatigue and fitness for duty

This paper presents recent research into compliance with current driving hours regulations, the effectiveness of using driving hours to predict fatigue, and alternative compliance and enforcement options. The paper describes results of a major survey of truck driver fatigue in New Zealand, a review of international compliance and enforcement procedures, and research focussing on the social forces and influences that affect truck drivers. The survey of truck drivers was based on interviews and performance tests collected from 600 truck drivers at depots, wharves, markets, and other locations throughout the North Island of New Zealand. The interviews included: questions on driver demographic and work/rest patterns, drivers' attitudes towards fatigue, propensity towards daytime sleepiness, and a self-assessment of the driver's momentary level of fatigue. In addition, a simulator-based performance test of driving was undertaken. The performance test included a combination of a standard driving task, a dual-axis sub-critical tracking task (maintaining speed and steering in a controlled but unstable environment, a virtual roadway affected by the appearance of random wind gusts requiring steering correction), and a tertiary or side-task requiring driver monitoring and periodic responses. The initial results from the first 100 drivers have found a sizable number of drivers exceeding the allowable driving hours, high levels of fatigue and sleepiness, and interesting differences between line-haul and local delivery drivers. A related research project into the social processes and relationships that affect truck drivers has resulted in a good understanding of the social conditions that influence cultural change and the actions of truck drivers and fleet managers. In this paper we will have particular regard to these processes in the construction of ideas concerning safety. This includes an understanding of the role of major stakeholders, such as freight forwarders and the enforcement agencies with respect to drivers and their conditions, actions and understanding of the road transport industry. This knowledge coupled with the survey results and an understanding of compliance and enforcement alternatives will be used to explore potential fatigue management options.     

The impact of age on useful visual field deterioration and risk evaluation in a simulated driving task

The primary goal of this study is to evaluate whether the driver can estimate his performance and the deterioration of his state of alertness during a simulated driving task. The second goal is to study the relation between useful visual field (UVF) deterioration and the capacity to estimate performance in a visual task and the decrease of level of alertness as a function of age. In our experiment, two groups of subjects: 10 drivers between 21 and 34 years old and nine drivers between 46 and 57 years old were required to follow a vehicle in a simulated road traffic situation for 2 hours. In addition, the driver had to detect the change of colour of a signal located in the central part of his visual field or a peripheral signal appeared on the rear light of one of the vehicles in the traffic. The analysis of data collected during this visual task confirms that UVF deteriorates with the duration of the driving task and with the driver's age. The analysis of subjective data related to the state of alertness highlights an effect both of age and of the moment when this self-evaluation was carried out. However, self-evaluation of the subject's performance does not depend on driver's age. Finally, the study shows that the correlation between objective data (performance of visual task) and subjective data (state of drowsiness and self-evaluation of performance of the visual task) is low, and the implications with regard to road safety are discussed.     

Perceptual Load Induces Inattentional Blindness in Drivers

Perceptual load theory states that the level of perceptual load in a task predicts the processing of task‐irrelevant information. High perceptual load has been shown to result in increased inattentional blindness; however, there is little evidence that this extends beyond artificial computer‐based tasks to real‐world behavior. In this study, we adapted a typical load‐blindness paradigm for use in a driving simulator. Forty‐two drivers performed a series of gap perception tasks where they judged if their vehicle could fit between two parked vehicles, with the task imposing either low or high perceptual load. Awareness for an unexpected pedestrian or animal at the side of the road was found to be significantly lower in the high perceptual load condition. This study is the first to demonstrate perceptual load effects on awareness in an applied setting and has important implications for road safety and future applied research on the perceptual load model.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Other road users’ adaptations to increase safety in response to older drivers’ behaviour

Changes in physical and cognitive abilities not only challenge the driving ability of older adults, in some situations age-related changes in driving behaviour require other road users to adapt their behaviour to maintain a safe traffic situation. In this study, we aimed to map age-related differences in driving behaviour and assess the impact on other road users. A group younger and a group older adults drove four different routes containing challenging situations (e.g., merging into motorway traffic) in a driving simulator while measures of driving behaviour were collected. Other road users’ deceleration responses to the driver’s behaviour were also collected as a measure of behavioural adaptation. Our results showed similar driving performance between young and older drivers when task complexity was low, but reduced performance in older drivers when tasks requirements increased. Lower driving speed and longer waiting times that were observed in older drivers can be interpreted as compensatory behaviour aimed at creating more time to lower task requirements. Crucially, in a non-time critical situation this compensatory behaviour was found to be successful, however in a time-critical situation (merging onto a motorway) this strategy had negative side effects because other road users had to decelerate in order to keep a safe distance. Our results show the importance of anticipation and adaptation by other road users for the success of older driver’s strategies and traffic safety.     

趣味性听觉材料对驾驶疲劳的作用：来自EEG的证据

疲劳驾驶是诱发交通事故的重要因素,研究驾驶疲劳的有效干预方法具有重要意义。本研究通过让驾驶员在驾驶模拟器中完成1小时的单调驾驶任务来诱发驾驶疲劳,同时记录驾驶员主观疲劳、驾驶绩效和脑电θ波功率,来探究趣味听觉材料是否可以缓解驾驶疲劳。结果发现,在单调驾驶条件下收听趣味听觉材料的驾驶员脑电θ波功率高于控制组,表明收听趣味听觉材料不利于缓解驾驶疲劳。     

音乐对驾驶警觉的影响及其理论模型

驾车时听音乐非常普遍。唤醒理论认为, 音乐可以使驾驶员处于最佳唤醒水平, 有利于驾驶警觉的维持。但是, 根据中枢容量有限理论, 音乐也会使驾驶员分心, 危害道路安全。动态模型在已有研究的基础上提出, 音乐对驾驶警觉起到唤醒抑或分心影响, 取决于音乐复杂性、驾驶情境要求及驾驶员个体差异等诸多因素的动态调节。最新的补偿控制理论则强调, 驾驶员自我调控是恢复动态平衡的关键。而未来的研究应关注驾驶员心理负荷的测量、智能车载音乐系统的开发以及驾驶员培训等领域。