Driver glance behavior towards displayed images on in-vehicle information systems under real driving conditions

Intelligent vehicle technologies like driver assistance systems and in-vehicle information systems, enhance convenience of the driving experience for drivers and passengers. At the same time, these systems may increase driver distraction and workload. Guidelines developed for this purpose include principles, methods, and assessments which are widely agreed upon, with some being singled out for a particular recommendation or requirement. Especially the display of graphical or photographic images are generally assumed to distract the driver from safely operating the vehicle and should be blocked during driving under all circumstances (so called per se lock outs). This study investigates the effect of displaying graphical and photographical images during driving on driveŕs glance behavior during real-world driving. Findings presented in this paper provide empirical evidence for the unobtrusiveness of these stimuli: Participants didn’t exhibit longer glance durations towards in-vehicle information systems, nor a deterioration of driver distraction parameters such as total eyes off road time and long glance proportion when being compared to driving without displaying any photographic images.     

After you?! – Use of external human-machine interfaces in road bottleneck scenarios

In the near future, automated vehicles (AVs) will enter the urban transport system. This fact will lead to mixed traffic consisting of AVs, human car drivers and vulnerable road users. Since the AV’s passenger no longer has to monitor the driving scene, conventional communication does not exist anymore, which is essential for traffic efficiency and safety. In research, there are plenty of studies focusing on how AVs could communicate with pedestrians. One approach is to use external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) on the AV’s surface. In contrast to the studies dealing with AV-pedestrian communication, this paper focuses on communication strategies of AVs with drivers of regular vehicles in different road bottleneck scenarios. The eHMI development and design is building on previously defined requirements and on fundamentals of human visual perception. After designing several eHMI drafts, we conducted a user survey with 29 participants resulting in the final eHMI concept. The evaluation of the evolved eHMI was conducted in a driving simulator experiment with 43 participants investigating the AV-human driver interaction at road bottlenecks. The participants were assigned either to the experimental group being faced with the eHMI or to the baseline group without explicit communication. The results show significantly shorter passing times and fewer crashes among the human drivers in the group with the eHMI. Additionally, the paper researches the aftereffects of an automation failure, where the AV first yields the right of way and then changes its strategy and insisted on priority. Experiencing the automation failure is reflected in increased passing times, reduced acceptance ratings and a lower perceived usefulness. In conclusion, especially in unregulated bottleneck scenarios flawless communication via eHMIs increases traffic efficiency and safety.     

Take over! A video-clip study measuring attention,situation awareness,and decision-making in the face of an impending hazard

In highly automated driving, drivers occasionally need to take over control of the car due to limitations of the automated driving system. Research has shown that visually distracted drivers need about 7 s to regain situation awareness (SA). However, it is unknown whether the presence of a hazard affects SA. In the present experiment, 32 participants watched animated video clips from a driver’s perspective while their eyes were recorded using eye-tracking equipment. The videos had lengths between 1 and 20 s and contained either no hazard or an impending crash in the form of a stationary car in the ego lane. After each video, participants had to (1) decide (no need to take over, evade left, evade right, brake only), (2) rate the danger of the situation, (3) rebuild the situation from a top-down perspective, and (4) rate the difficulty of the rebuilding task. The results showed that the hazard situations were experienced as more dangerous than the non-hazard situations, as inferred from self-reported danger and pupil diameter. However, there were no major differences in SA: hazard and non-hazard situations yielded equivalent speed and distance errors in the rebuilding task and equivalent self-reported difficulty scores. An exception occurred for the shortest time budget (1 s) videos, where participants showed impaired SA in the hazard condition, presumably because the threat inhibited participants from looking into the rear-view mirror. Correlations between measures of SA and decision-making accuracy were low to moderate. It is concluded that hazards do not substantially affect the global awareness of the traffic situation, except for short time budgets.     

Nomophobia and self-reported smartphone use while driving: An investigation into whether nomophobia can increase the likelihood of illegal smartphone use while driving

In Australia, illegal smartphone use while driving is on the rise, increasing the likelihood drivers could be distracted and crash. Smartphones avail users a sense of belonging, connectedness, and access to information. As such, the sensation of being without one’s smartphone has developed into the prevalence of nomophobia, defined as the fear and anxiety associated with being without smartphone. The aim of the current study was to specifically examine the relationship between smartphone use while driving and nomophobia by 1) determining the types and frequency of illegal phone use while driving and, 2) exploring the relationship between nomophobia and illegal phone use while driving. The sample consisted of 2,774 Victorian smartphone users (47.0% male) with a valid driver’s licence. Driver’s nomophobia levels were measured using the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q), while driver’s smartphone use was measured using an original scale developed by the authors. A binary logistic regression was conducted which showed that the longer average time spent per day on a smartphone and a lack of knowledge of the mobile phone road law were the strongest positive predictors of illegal use (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.09–1.60; OR = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.48–2.28, respectively). However, only one nomophobia factor (i.e., access to information) significantly predicted illegal smartphone use (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.04–1.09). Smartphone use is a complex and contextual behaviour, therefore, focusing on the fear of being without in dependency overlooks the nuances of the need to be with. This study offered several practical interventions that may mitigate illegal smartphone use and reduce the likelihood of crashes among Victorian road users.     

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。     

Convergent,discriminant, and predictive validity of aggressive driving inventories: they drive as they live

The authors hypothesized that aggressive driving is indicative of a more general trait that leads individuals to behave aggressively in different situations. This hypothesis was tested by having 85 male and 237 female undergraduates complete the Aggression Questionnaire, three measures of aggressive driving (the Driver Anger Scale, Driver Vengeance Questionnaire, and Driving Behavior Inventory), and questions about violating traffic laws. High correlations among the aggressive driving inventories provided evidence for the convergent validity, but a confirmatory factor analyses raised questions about the discriminant validity of aggressive driving inventories. The inventories did not attain significance in hierarchical analyses of traffic violations that controlled for gender, driving experience, and measures of trait aggression. It is concluded that there is little unique about aggressive driving and that individuals drive as they live. Aggr. Behav. 32:89–98, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Assessing technology acceptance for skills development and real-world decision-making in the context of train driving

Advances in technology have improved operator performance and efficiency in transport but it is not uncommon for end users to resist technology in spite of its benefits. Operators may resist technology from genuine and legitimate concerns though it is often seen as unjustified. While beneficial, such resistance can have detrimental effects on operations and safety, and can result in the withdrawal of a technology. Theories relating to technology acceptance include elements such as perceptions about the purpose and use of the technology, personal impact, individual characteristics, peer influence, perceived equity, and organizational factors. Although considerable research into technology acceptance and resistance has been conducted in other domains, very little has been conducted in transportation. Findings from two Australian studies are reported which examined train driver attitudes to two state-of-the-art technologies aimed at enhancing skills development and real-world decision-making. The technologies were implemented in the form of in-vehicle information support and simulated learning. Analysis of interviews defined three overarching themes relating to technology resistance: task dynamics related to ways of working and safety; redundancy regarding the utility of the technology and the impact on job security; and personal impact with respect to effects on status and the drivers’ capacity to learn new skills. It is argued that domain-specific characteristics must be considered when designing and implementing new technologies to ensure that benefits of technologies are optimised. It is also argued that resistance should be seen as a positive element of the design and implementation process. This paper has high relevance for transport researchers, and practical application for rail organisations and policy makers.     

Risky driving among young male drivers: The effects of mood and passengers

Young male drivers are at greater risk of automobile crashes than other drivers. Efforts to reduce risky driving in this population have met with mixed success. The present research was designed to examine the effects of induced mood and the presence or absence of passengers on risky driving in young male drivers. Male drivers (n = 204) aged 16–18 were tested in a driving simulator. This study employed a 2 (happy/sad mood) by 2 (passenger present/absent) between-subjects factorial design, and examined driving behavior in a simulator. Measures of risky driving were combined into two factors representing speed (e.g., exceeding the speed limit) and carelessness (e.g., crossing the center line). Findings indicated that driving with a passenger resulted in faster driving than driving alone. Although there was no significant main effect of induced mood on driving, results revealed a significant interaction of mood and passenger conditions: when in a happy mood, driving with a passenger significantly increased driving speed. There were no significant effects of passenger or mood on careless driving. In conclusion, both mood and passenger presence are important factors in fast driving among young male drivers. Results are discussed in the context of developing more effective countermeasures for this at-risk population.     

Perceived risk vs actual driving performance during distracted driving: A comparative analysis of phone use and other secondary distractions

The present study attempts to explore the association of drivers’ risk perception towards phone usage as well as other everyday distractions (operating a music player and eating during driving), and their driving performance observed during these distracted conditions. For this purpose, driving simulator experiments were conducted with 90 participants to collect their driving performance data and a questionnaire was conducted to obtain their basic details along with their risk perceptions. Firstly, the driving performance was divided into clusters using hierarchical clustering and the clustered subgroups were compared for crash and non-crash cases to identify the groups having significant performance degradation. Based on this comparison, the driving performance subgroups were then divided into the following crash risk probabilities: High risk, Moderate risk and Low risk. Further, the associations of perceived risk with these performance subgroups and other potential factors were analyzed using association rules mining technique. Most of the drivers (72.06%) reported texting as an extremely risky task. But, surprisingly none of them considered conversation as an extremely risky task. However, in case of conversation, it was found that even though the professional drivers reported the task to be not at all risky, the observed crash risk was high for them (S = 5.21%, C = 67.86%), indicating an underestimation of the associated risk by the drivers. Similarly, the results revealed that for music player and eating tasks, drivers reported the distracting tasks to be less risky, but, in some instances, their driving performance was associated with higher chances of crash occurrence. Many interesting associations of risk perception and driving performance with respect to demographic and driving characteristics were also obtained. The findings can be useful while designing the awareness programs related to distracted driving with an aim to reduce such practices.     

It’s about time! Earlier take-over requests in automated driving enable safer responses to conflicts

Automated driving (AD), which takes full responsibility for the driving task in certain conditions, is currently being developed. An important concern in AD is how to design a take-over request (TOR) that mitigates automation effects (e.g., delayed responses to conflict scenarios) that previous literature from simulator experiments has shown can occur. To address this concern, this study aims to investigate and compare driver responses to TORs and a lead-vehicle cut-out scenario under three conditions: (1) after a period of AD with a TOR issued early (18 s time-to-collision), (2) same as (1) except with a TOR issued late (9 s time-to-collision), and (3) baseline, with adaptive cruise control (ACC). This paper also compares the results to those of a previous study using the same conflict scenario but with near-perfect assisted driving system (SAE Level 2). The lead-vehicle cut-out scenario was encountered on a test track after 30 minutes driving with either ACC or AD. In AD the TOR was issued prior to the conflict object was revealed to the participants when the lead vehicle performed the cut-out (at conflict onset). This TOR strategy differed from previous driving-simulator studies that issued the TOR at conflict onset. The participants had to respond by steering and/or braking to avoid a crash. Our findings show that, independent of TOR timing, the drivers required similar amounts of time to 1) direct their first glance to the human–machine interface, 2) look forward, 3) end their secondary task, 4) put their hands on the steering wheel, and 5) deactivate automation. However, when the TOR was issued early rather than late, they started to brake earlier (even before conflict onset). All participants successfully managed to avoid crashing with the object, independent of the condition. AD with an early TOR resulted in the earliest response, while ACC drivers responded slightly earlier than the drivers in AD with the late TOR. Our findings do not support the findings of severe automation effects in previous driving-simulator studies. One reason for the difference is that when a TOR is issued prior to conflict onset, drivers are given the time needed for their preparatory actions (e.g., placing hands on the wheel, deactivating AD) that is not needed when driving with ACC or in manual driving (baseline), before having to respond to the conflict scenario. Thus, at conflict onset the drivers in AD are as ready to act (hands on wheel, eyes forward) as the drivers in the baseline and can perform an avoidance manoeuvre similar as to the baseline drive. Overall, the present study shows that AD does not need to end up in a highly critical situation if the TOR is issued early enough. In fact, AD with an early TOR may be safer than driving with ACC, because in the former drivers are more likely to brake earlier in preparation for the conflict. Finally, a TOR clearly communicates the need for drivers to resume manual control and handle potential events when AD has been deactivated. In our study, once the drivers had taken control, they clearly understood their responsibilities to respond to the conflict, in contrast to a previous study with a similar, near-perfect assisted driving system.