Pedal Errors in Late-Model Automobiles: A Possible Explanation for Unintended Acceleration

Tomerlin, J; Vernoy, Mark W.

doi:10.4271/900142

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Although the interruption effect may be responsible for the occurrence of pedal misapplication, previous empirical studies have not examined this possibility. Instead, they have primarily addressed pedal misapplications in situations in which participants were engaged in driving only ( Freund et al, 2008 ; Rogers & Wierwille, 1988 ; Tomerlin & Vernoy, 1990 ; Wu et al, 2014 , 2015 ). In these situations, only a small number of pedal misapplications were detected.…”

Section: Pedal Misapplication: Interruption Effects and Age-related Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedal Misapplication: Interruption Effects and Age-Related Differences

2020

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Objective This study aimed to investigate whether pedal misapplication occurs more frequently when a pedal task is interrupted for a longer period of time. Background Misapplication of a vehicle’s brake and accelerator pedals can cause severe traffic accidents, especially for older drivers. The present study provides empirical support for the hypothesis that pedal misapplication occurs more frequently when drivers are interrupted for longer periods of time and is demonstrated more prominently in older drivers. Methods Forty younger participants and 40 older participants were asked to perform a pedal choice response task (stepping on either a brake or accelerator pedal) that had been preceded by an interruption task (i.e., touch number task). Results Pedal misapplications occurred more frequently when the pedal choice response task was preceded by the touch number task for a longer interval (about 120 s) than for a shorter interval (about 30 s). Furthermore, the time-related increase in pedal misapplications was greater for older participants. Conclusion Pedal misapplication increases when the pedal task is interrupted for a longer time period, especially for older adults. Application The findings contribute to our understanding of when and where pedal misapplications tend to occur.

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Section: Pedal Misapplication: Interruption Effects and Age-related Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pedal Misapplication: Interruption Effects and Age-Related Differences

2020

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“…About 83% of unintended acceleration events were reduced by this device (Schmidt, 1993), confirming the role of driver pedal misapplication when starting. Other studies (Rogers & Wierwille, 1988; Tomerlin & Vernoy, 1990) have shown that drivers also show pedal confusion when the vehicle is under way. Those events are not reduced by the shift interlock.…”

mentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Tomerlin and Vernoy (1990) found that 1 of 169 of their drivers stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake and continued to do so in a driving test. Such results show that drivers frequently make pedal errors, which is especially noteworthy when one considers that U.S. drivers apply the brake about once every mile (Mortimer, Segel, Campbell, Jorgeson, & Murphy, 1970), or 6 billion times per day.…”

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confidence: 99%

An Early (1969) Case of “Unintended Acceleration” Crash

Mortimer¹

2011

Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applicatio

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This article describes the human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) design considerations of the accelerator and brake pedal configuration of a 1970 automobile in which a driver experienced unintended acceleration, resulting in injuries to a pedestrian when the car suddenly backed into him. HF/E experts were consulted by the attorneys for the defendant and for the plaintiff in the ensuing lawsuit. Their procedures, analyses, and conclusions centered on the requirements for the vertical and horizontal separations between the accelerator and the brake pedals to minimize inadvertent operation of the accelerator pedal when braking was intended.

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“…Tran, Doshi, and Trivedi (2011) referred to pedal errors as the situation when the driver mistakenly presses the wrong pedal or does not press any pedal at all. Rogers and Wierwille (1988) showed that about 0.2% of participants' foot movements in a simulator study resulted in the wrong pedal or both pedals being pressed, and Tomerlin and Vernoy (1990) showed that 1 out of 169 drivers would continue to step on the wrong pedal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%