State-of-the-art vehicle automation requires drivers to visually monitor the driving environment and the automation (through interfaces and vehicle’s actions) and intervene when necessary. However, as evidenced by recent automated vehicle crashes and laboratory studies, drivers are not always able to step in when the automation fails. Research points to the increase in distraction or secondary-task engagement in the presence of automation as a potential reason. However, previous research on secondary-task engagement in automated vehicles mainly focused on experienced drivers. This issue may be amplified for novice drivers with less driving skill. In this paper, we compared secondary-task engagement behaviors of novice and experienced drivers both in manual (non-automated) and automated driving settings in a driving simulator. A self-paced visual-manual secondary task presented on an in-vehicle display was utilized. Phase 1 of the study included 32 drivers (16 novice) who drove the simulator manually. In Phase 2, another set of 32 drivers (16 novice) drove with SAE-level-2 automation. In manual driving, there were no differences between novice and experienced drivers’ rate of manual interactions with the secondary task (i.e., taps on the display). However, with automation, novice drivers had a higher manual interaction rate with the task than experienced drivers. Further, experienced drivers had shorter average glance durations toward the task than novice drivers in general, but the difference was larger with automation compared with manual driving. It appears that with automation, experienced drivers are more conservative in their secondary-task engagement behaviors compared with novice drivers.
Objective The aim of this study is to investigate how anticipatory driving is influenced by distraction. Background The anticipation of future events in traffic can allow potential gains in recognition and response times. Anticipatory actions (i.e., control actions in preparation for potential traffic changes) have been found to be more prevalent among experienced drivers in simulator studies when driving was the sole task. Despite the prevalence of visual-manual distractions and their negative effects on road safety, their influence on anticipatory driving has not yet been investigated beyond hazard anticipation. Methods A simulator experiment was conducted with 16 experienced and 16 novice drivers. Half of the participants were provided with a self-paced visual-manual secondary task presented on a dashboard display. Results More anticipatory actions were observed among experienced drivers; experienced drivers also exhibited more efficient visual scanning behaviors as indicated by higher glance rates toward and percent times looking at cues that facilitate the anticipation of upcoming events. Regardless of experience, those with the secondary task displayed reduced anticipatory actions and paid less attention toward anticipatory cues. However, experienced drivers had lower odds of exhibiting long glances toward the secondary task compared to novices. Further, the inclusion of glance duration on anticipatory cues increased the accuracy of a model predicting anticipatory actions based on on-road glance durations. Conclusion The results provide additional evidence to existing literature supporting the role of driving experience and distraction engagement in anticipatory driving. Application These findings can guide the design of in-vehicle systems and guide training programs to support anticipatory driving.
The anticipation of future events in traffic can allow potential gains in recognition and response times. Anticipatory actions (i.e., actions in preparation for a potential upcoming conflict) have been found to be more prevalent among experienced drivers in a driving simulator study where driving was the sole task. The influence of secondary tasks on anticipatory driving has not yet been investigated, despite the prevalence and negative effects of distraction widely documented in the literature. A driving simulator experiment was conducted with 16 experienced and 16 novice drivers to address this gap with half of the participants provided with a self-paced visual-manual secondary task. More anticipatory actions were observed among experienced drivers in general compared to novices; experienced drivers also exhibited more efficient visual scanning behaviors. Secondary task engagement reduced anticipatory actions for both experienced and novice drivers.
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