Turmoil Behind the Automated Wheel: An Embodied Perspective on Current HMI Developments in Partially Automated Vehicles

Cars that include combinations of automated functions, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Lane Keeping (LK), are becoming more and more available to consumers, and higher levels of automation are under development. In the use of these systems, the role of the driver is changing. This new interaction between the driver and the vehicle may...

Towards a real-time driver workload estimator: An on-the-road study

Driver distraction is a leading cause of crashes. The introduction of in-vehicle technology in the last decades has added support to the driving task. However, in-vehicle technologies and handheld electronic devices may also be a threat to driver safety due to information overload and distraction. Adaptive in-vehicle information systems may be a...

Distraction and inattention in the driver model library

TNO is developing a Driver Model Library (DML) to provide computational models of driver behaviour and decision making for use as a cross-platform plug-in for traffic simulations. The DML is based on a multi-agent cognitive framework which models the individual driving tasks (such as navigation, overtaking, gap acceptance, etc.) and the...

Country Report - The Netherlands

This paper provides an overview of the most significant developments in the area of road (geometric) design practices and standards and related research in the Netherlands in recent years. The paper describes the importance of the Sustainable Road Safety policy in this context. Furthermore, it provides a summary of a number of new initiatives...

The relationship between driver distraction and mental workload

Driver distraction is caused by a competing activity and leads to unsafe driving. Mental workload changes with task demands and influences performance. Though distraction and mental workload are strongly related, they are not the same. Performance motivation and task engagement influence performance and consequently distraction but not workload;...

Occlusion as a measure for visual workload: An overview of TNO occlusion research in car driving

A process-oriented approach by systematically studying driver performance, distraction, and workload is the way to go for assessing safety effects of new telematics applications in vehicles. These systems may strive for drivers' attention and possibly lead to distraction from the primary task. Visual occlusion techniques appear to be an...

Stimuli fixation and manual response as a function of expectancies

Two experiments investigated effects of expectations on eye fixations and responses to expected and unexpected information in a laboratory setting. Stimulus fixation and manual responses to predefined targets among distractors were measured in a dynamic environment shown on a monitor. Participants were part of either a predictable condition ...

A "thinking roadsurface"

Comprehensibility of an assistance system that should facilitate merging at places where a motorway lane ends was evaluated in the advanced driving simulator of the University of Groningen. Main components of the system called 'Denkdek' ('Thinking road surface') are electronic speed limit signs, arrows stimulating to merge, and moving light (LED...

Staying oriented while driving

Do elderly drivers have more trouble finding their way and staying spatially oriented than younger drivers do? If spatial orientation is more difficult for elderly drivers it could distract attention from vehicle control resulting in a higher accident rate for elderly drivers. Moreover, it could become less desirable for older drivers to explore...

Automatic visual information processing and expectations in traffic

Automatic information processing (AVIP) in traffic refers to a driver state, in which expectations have replaced a large part of the active information intake exerted by a highly attentive driver. Instead of actively scanning the visual environment, the driver only passively monitors the outside world, requiring little attention. This state has...

Measuring distraction: The Peripheral Detection Task

The possibilities for measuring workload or driver distraction by means of the Peripheral Detection Task during driving with in-vehicle equipment were investigated in a driving simulator experiment. The results show that the Peripheral Detection Task is a very sensitive method of measuring peaks in workload, induced by either a critical scenario...

Driving and road sign perception

Driver distraction in the European statement of principles on in-vehicle HMI: a comment

The recently issued 'European statement ofprinciples on in-vehicle HMI' is reviewed with respect to what it contains on preventing driver distraction as it could be caused by in-vehicle HMI.