Glass half-full: On-road glance metrics differentiate crashes from near-crashes in the 100-Car data.

BACKGROUND: Much of the driver distraction and inattention work to date has focused on concerns over drivers removing their eyes from the forward roadway to perform non-driving-related tasks, and its demonstrable link to safety consequences when these glances are timed at inopportune moments. This extensive literature has established, through the analyses of glance from naturalistic datasets, a clear relationship between eyes-off-road, lead vehicle closing kinematics, and near-crash/crash involvement. OBJECTIVE: This paper looks at the role of driver expectation in influencing drivers' decisions about when and for how long to remove their eyes from the forward roadway in an analysis that consider the combined role of on- and off-road glances. METHOD: Using glance data collected in the 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS), near-crashes were examined separately from crashes to examine how momentary differences in glance allocation over the 25-s prior to a precipitating event can differentiate between these two distinct outcomes. Individual glance metrics of mean single glance duration (MSGD), total glance time (TGT), and glance count for off-road and on-road glance locations were analyzed. Output from the AttenD algorithm (Kircher and Ahlström, 2009) was also analyzed as a hybrid measure; in threading together on- and off-road glances over time, its output produces a pattern of glance behavior meaningful for examining attentional effects. RESULTS: Individual glance metrics calculated at the epoch-level and binned by 10-s units of time across the available epoch lengths revealed that drivers in near-crashes have significantly longer on-road glances, and look less frequently between on- and off- road locations in the moments preceding a precipitating event as compared to crashes. During on-road glances, drivers in near-crashes were found to more frequently sample peripheral regions of the roadway than drivers in crashes. Output from the AttenD algorithm affirmed the cumulative net benefit of longer on-road glances and of improved attention management between on- and off-road locations. CONCLUSION: The finding of longer on-road glances differentiating between safety-critical outcomes in the 100-Car NDS data underscores the importance of attention management in how drivers look both on and off the road. It is in the pattern of glances to and from the forward roadway that drivers obtained critical information necessary to inform their expectation of hazard potential to avoid a crash. APPLICATION: This work may have important implications for attention management in the context of the increasing prevalence of in-vehicle demands as well as of vehicle automation.

Assessment of naturalistic use patterns of advanced infotainment systems.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine naturalistic usage of infotainment systems to assess use characteristics and patterns. BACKGROUND: Infotainment systems continue to evolve in terms of their capabilities and information availability, raising concerns about their distraction potential. Assessing potential distraction requires understanding how challenging different tasks are and how frequently they occur during driving. METHOD: High-end infotainment system use was observed across 17 participants over a period of approximately 4 weeks each. One of two different infotainment systems was provided to participants. Audio, video, and driving performance data were collected and observed by trained reductionists. The two infotainment systems integrated iPod™, satellite radio, CD/DVD/MP3 playback, AM/FM, and, in one case, navigation functionalities. Systems differed in their vehicle integration and advanced infotainment features offered. RESULTS: The median participant interacted with the infotainment systems once every 4 hr (90th percentile: 6.1 interactions/hr). More than 50% of these interactions involved adjusting the volume. Although there were a few lengthy interactions, the median duration was 2.2 s (90th percentile: 24.6 s), which required measurable visual involvement when compared to a matched baseline. The median total eyes-off-road time across interactions was 1 s (90th percentile: 11.4 s) and differed significantly across type of system interaction. Longer interactions tended to occur when the vehicle was stationary. CONCLUSION: Drivers habitually interact with infotainment systems while driving; this includes advanced functions. Some self-regulation was observed. APPLICATION: These data provide a comparison basis for use in examining driver interactions with future infotainment systems.

An opportunity for convergence? Understanding the prevalence and risk of distracted driving through the use of crash databases, crash investigations, and other approaches.

A variety of methodologies for understanding the prevalence of distracted driving, its risk, and other aspects of driver secondary activity, have been used in the last 15 years. Although the current trend is toward naturalistic driving studies, each methodology contributes certain elements to a better understanding that could emerge from a convergence of these efforts. However, if differing methods are to contribute to a common and robust understanding of driver distraction, it is critical to understand the strengths and limitations of each method. This paper reviews several of the non-naturalistic methods. It suggests that "convergence science" - a more concerted and rigorous effort to bring different approaches together into an integrative whole - may offer benefits for identification and definition of issues and countermeasure development to improve driving safety.

Scrolling and driving: how an MP3 player and its aftermarket controller affect driving performance and visual behavior.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess how scrolling through playlists on an MP3 player or its aftermarket controller affects driving performance and to examine how drivers adapt device use to driving demands. BACKGROUND: Drivers use increasingly complex infotainment devices that can undermine driving performance. The goal activation hypothesis suggests that drivers might fail to compensate for these demands, particularly with long tasks and large search set sizes. METHOD: A total of 50 participants searched for songs in playlists of varying lengths using either an MP3 player or an aftermarket controller while negotiating road segments with traffic and construction in a medium-fidelity driving simulator. RESULTS: Searching through long playlists (580 songs) resulted in poor driving performance and required more long glances (longer than 2 s) to the device compared with other playlist lengths. The aftermarket controller also led to more long glances compared with the MP3 player. Drivers did not adequately adapt their behavior to roadway demand, as evident in their degraded driving performance. No significant performance differences were found between short playlists, the radio-tuning task, and the no-task condition. CONCLUSION: Selecting songs from long playlists undermined driving performance, and drivers did not sufficiently adapt their use of the device to the roadway demands, consistent with the goal activation hypothesis. The aftermarket controller degraded rather than enhanced performance. APPLICATION: Infotainment systems should support drivers in managing distraction. Aftermarket controllers can have the unintended effect of making devices carried into the car less compatible with driving.These results can motivate development of new interfaces as alternatives to scrolling lists.