The Effectiveness of Safety Campaign VMS Messages - A Driving Simulator Investigation

This report outlines an off-road trial of the effectiveness of Safety Campaign Messages (such as “Watch Your Speed”) sometimes displayed on Variable Message Signs (VMS) throughout the U.K.’s motorway network. Eighty drivers took part in the driving simulator study. It primarily investigated the effectiveness of the individual messages and how their presence affected driver behaviour towards more critical Tactical Incident Messages (TIM), such as those that might warn of an impending hazard. Both the content and concentration of the Safety Campaign Messages were varied. The Safety Campaign Messages in themselves were not especially beneficial, in that drivers did not significantly modify their driving style purely on the advice of the messages. However, witnessing the odd VMS carrying such a message appeared to improve driver alertness to the context of the VMS and consequently response to a TIM became more timely under these conditions. Yet, if the frequency of Safety Campaign Messages was overly high, drivers became jaded with the VMS content and their ability to act appropriately to a TIM degraded

Can Low Cost Road Engineering Measures Combat Driver Fatigue? A Driving Simulator Investigation

Driver fatigue is a major cause of road accidents, accounting for over 20% of serious accidents on motorways and monotonous roads in the U.K. This study investigated the potential for low-cost, road-based, engineering measures to act as alerting features in an otherwise monotonous driving environment and hence combat fatigue. Thirty-three drivers took part in the driving simulator study. There was some evidence of an alerting effect provided to drivers by all three of the treatments tested: chevron road-surface markings, transversecarriageway rumble strips and variable message signs. However, the alerting effect did appear to be relatively weak and potentially quite short-lived. Nevertheless, there may well be potential for any of the novel alerts to be deployed in the field in a known fatigue-related accident area

Shut up I\u27m Driving! Is Talking to an Inconsiderate Passenger the Same as Talking on a Mobile Telephone?

The objective of this study was to compare driving performance whilst talking on a hands-free mobile (cellular) telephone with performance during conversations with “considerate” and “inconsiderate” passengers. Using the Leeds Advanced Driving Simulator, participants were asked to drive through a road containing four driving scenarios: (1) car following along a straight road section, (2) car following along a curved section of road, (3) a braking event, and (4) a coherence event. A working memory digit recall and sentence verification task were used to simulate conversation in three conversation conditions: (1) “considerate passenger,” where the experimenter asked drivers to responsd to the working memory task before and after a driving event, (2) “inconsiderate passenger,” where the experimenter asked drivers to responsd to the working memory task throughout a driving event, and “3) “mobile phone task,” which involved digital presentation of the working memory task via a mobile telephone throughout the driving events. A silent condition was also used as control. The effect of the three conversation conditions on driving performance was the same during the simple car following scenarios. However, talking to an “inconsiderate” passenger was found to be as disrupting as a mobile phone conversation, and different from conversing with a considerate passenger, during the braking and coherence conditions. Therefore, the high workload imposed by conversation was only detrimental during the more difficult driving conditions, when demand for central attentional resources from both tasks was at its highest

Multisensory Signal Detection: How Does Driving and IVIS Management Affect Performance?

Signal detection was used as a ‘tertiary’ task to assess drivers’ ‘spare processing capacity’ during the performance of two in-vehicle information systems (IVIS). The main aims of the study were: a) to establish if performance on signal detection can be used to assess IVIS safety during driving and b) to determine whether signal modality is important for this assessment. Participants performed each IVIS (Phone or Count) during a driving simulation experiment. In addition to performing the driving and IVIS, participants were required to complete three detection tasks (DT): (i) a visual DT (ii) an auditory DT, and (iii) a tactile DT. Average reaction time to the DTs was found to increase by around 200ms when performed with the IVIS tasks. It can be argued that any significant increase in reaction time to the DTs is a good indicator of drivers’ reduced hazard perception/situation awareness, which might occur as a result of using in-car systems. No significant difference in performance was found between the various DTs, suggesting that performance relies on central attentional resources, and is not modality-specific. This affords some flexibility for assessing the safety of IVIS in different driving environments. For instance, an auditory DT might be used in field studies on a sunny day when bright light hinders detection of LEDs used in a visual version of the task. Similarly, the tactile version of the task might be useful for testing IVIS in a noisy driving environment

Bilingual Variable Message Signs: A Study of Information Presentation and Driver Distraction

Research on static bilingual signs has confirmed increasedreading times compared to their monolingual counterparts; however there islittle empirical research on bilingual Variable Message Signs (VMS). Thestudy reported here evaluates the effect of various bilingual VMSconfigurations on driver behaviour and safety. The aim of the study was todetermine whether or not the visual distraction associated with bilingualVMS signs of different configurations (length, complexity) impacted ondriving performance. The results suggest that four-line bilingual VMS signscomprising 2 lines of text in each language are read by both monolingualand bilingual drivers in a manner that more closely approximates a two-linemonolingual sign. This being the case it is likely that the deployment offour-line bilingual signs on Welsh motorways is unlikely to result in asignificant reduction in safety

How Do Drivers Behave in a Highly Automated Car?

This paper outlines the results of a driving simulator study conducted for the European CityMobil project, which was designed to investigate the effect of a highly automated driving scenario on driver behaviour. Drivers’ response to a number of ‘critical’ scenarios was compared in manual driving with that in automated driving. Drivers were in full control of the vehicle and its manoeuvres in the manual driving condition, whilst control of the vehicle was transferred to an ‘automated system’ in the automated driving condition. Automated driving involved the engagement of lateral and longitudinal controllers, which kept the vehicle in the centre of the lane and at a speed of 40 mph, respectively. Drivers were required to regain control of the driving task if the automated system was unable to handle a critical situation. An auditory alarm forewarned drivers of an imminent collision in such critical situations. Drivers’ response to all critical events was found to be much later in the automated driving condition, compared to manual driving. This is thought to be because drivers’ situation awareness was reduced during automated driving, with response only produced after drivers heard the alarm. Alternatively, drivers may have relied too heavily on the system, waiting for the auditory alarm before responding in a critical situation. These results suggest that action must be taken when implementing fully automated driving to ensure that the driver is kept in the loop at all times and is able to respond in time and appropriately during critical situations

Potential benefits of an adaptive forward collision warning system

Forward collision warning (FCW) systems can reduce rear-end vehicle collisions. However, if the presentation of warnings is perceived as mistimed, trust in the system is diminished and drivers become less likely to respond appropriately. In this driving simulator investigation, 45 drivers experienced two FCW systems: a non-adaptive and an adaptive FCW that adjusted the timing of its alarms according to each individual driver’s reaction time. Whilst all drivers benefited in terms of improved safety from both FCW systems, non-aggressive drivers (low sensation seeking, long followers) did not display a preference to the adaptive FCW over its non-adaptive equivalent. Furthermore, there was little evidence to suggest that the non-aggressive drivers’ performance differed with either system. Benefits of the adaptive system were demonstrated for aggressive drivers (high sensation seeking, short followers). Even though both systems reduced their likelihood of a crash to a similar extent, the aggressive drivers rated each FCW more poorly than their non-aggressive contemporaries. However, this group, with their greater risk of involvement in rear-end collisions, reported a preference for the adaptive system as they found it less irritating and stress-inducing. Achieving greater acceptance and hence likely use of a real system is fundamental to good quality FCW design

Interface design considerations for an in-vehicle eco-driving assistance system

This high-fidelity driving simulator study used a paired comparison design to investigate the effectiveness of 12 potential eco-driving interfaces. Previous work has demonstrated fuel economy improvements through the provision of in-vehicle eco-driving guidance using a visual or haptic interface. This study uses an eco-driving assistance system that advises the driver of the most fuel efficient accelerator pedal angle, in real time. Assistance was provided to drivers through a visual dashboard display, a multimodal visual dashboard and auditory tone combination, or a haptic accelerator pedal. The style of advice delivery was varied within each modality. The effectiveness of the eco-driving guidance was assessed via subjective feedback, and objectively through the pedal angle error between system-requested and participant-selected accelerator pedal angle. Comparisons amongst the six haptic systems suggest that drivers are guided best by a force feedback system, where a driver experiences a step change in force applied against their foot when they accelerate inefficiently. Subjective impressions also identified this system as more effective than a stiffness feedback system involving a more gradual change in pedal feedback. For interfaces with a visual component, drivers produced smaller pedal errors with an in-vehicle visual display containing second order information on the required rate of change of pedal angle, in addition to current fuel economy information. This was supported by subjective feedback. The presence of complementary audio alerts improved eco-driving performance and reduced visual distraction from the roadway. The results of this study can inform the further development of an in-vehicle assistance system that supports ‘green’ driving

Behavioural changes in drivers experiencing highly-automated vehicle control in varying traffic conditions

Previous research has indicated that high levels of vehicle automation can result in reduced driver situation awareness, but has also highlighted potential benefits of such future vehicle designs through enhanced safety and reduced driver workload. Well-designed automation allows drivers’ visual attention to be focused away from the roadway and toward secondary, in-vehicle tasks. Such tasks may be pleasant distractions from the monotony of system monitoring. This study was undertaken to investigate the impact of voluntary secondary task uptake on the system supervisory responsibilities of drivers experiencing highly-automated vehicle control. Independent factors of Automation Level (manual control, highly-automated) and Traffic Density (light, heavy) were manipulated in a repeated-measures experimental design. 49 drivers participated using a high-fidelity driving simulator that allowed drivers to see, hear and, crucially, feel the impact of their automated vehicle handling. Drivers experiencing automation tended to refrain from behaviours that required them to temporarily retake manual control, such as overtaking, resulting in an increased journey time. Automation improved safety margins in car following, however this was restricted to conditions of light surrounding traffic. Participants did indeed become more heavily involved with the in-vehicle entertainment tasks than they were in manual driving, affording less visual attention to the road ahead. This might suggest that drivers are happy to forgo their supervisory responsibilities in preference of a more entertaining highly-automated drive. However, they did demonstrate additional attention to the roadway in heavy traffic, implying that these responsibilities are taken more seriously as the supervisory demand of vehicle automation increases. These results may dampen some concerns over driver underload with vehicle automation, assuming vehicle manufacturers embrace the need for positive system feedback and drivers also fully appreciate their supervisory obligations in such future vehicle designs

The potential mental health effects of remote control in an autonomous maritime world

Many maritime activities, such as loading, unloading and transporting cargoes, consist primarily of long periods of low-stress, with some moments of high stress during complex manoeuvres or unanticipated, dangerous, incidences. The increase in autonomy provided by machines and AI is beginning to take over certain tasks in the maritime sector, to reduce costs and mitigate human error. However, with the current levels of autonomous technology available, legislation, and public trust in the technology, such solutions are only able to remove majority of tasks associated with low-stress periods. In fact, many current remote control solutions still suggest relying on human operators to deal with the complex situations AI struggle with. Such a human–automation relationship could endanger the human element. The concern is that, if the human user is spending a disproportionate part of their time dealing with multiple, unconnected, high-stress tasks, without periods to de-stress, this could increasingly put workers at risk. This paper seeks to highlight potential technical, social, and mental, issues that may arise as the sector begins implementing semi-autonomous and fully autonomous maritime operations