Drivers can be distracted voluntarily and involuntarily
Drivers can intentionally or voluntarily engage in a non-driving-related activity (e.g., texting on the phone), and may also become distracted involuntarily by a non-driving related source (e.g., billboards on the road). Distractions that are of a voluntary nature are linked to social and psychological factors, including personality (e.g., risk taking tendency), beliefs (e.g., "other people also text and drive"), and values (e.g., “it is important for me to respond to emails and text messages"). People who become involuntarily distracted while driving also tend to be easily distracted during other everyday activities, and involuntary driver distraction in general can be linked to attentional capabilities of the individual. We have found large variability with the way drivers engage with voluntary distraction and with involuntary distraction. However, both types of distractions resulted in delayed responses to roadway events, such as emergency braking.
Emerging technologies and driver distraction
Smartwatches and other wearables are new devices that are making their way into the driving space, and have been marketed as being easily accessible and glanceable ways of getting information. We conducted two driving simulator experiments comparing how drivers interact and respond to notifications using smartwatches and smartphones. We found that our participants spent more time looking at smartwatches than smartphones when they read notifications. Our participants were also slower in reaction to a lead vehicle braking while responding to notifications on the smartwatch than the smartphone. These results show that smartwatches may have detrimental effects on driving that are similar to or worse than smartphones, and can be a potential source of distraction on the road.
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Driver distraction while searching for on-street parking
During peak hours, about 30% of vehicle traffic in major cities is actively searching for parking. Every driver’s journey begins and ends in a parking spot, yet searching for on-street parking is a complex task. From a moving vehicle, the driver must identify fire hydrants, interpret regulation signs, and estimate the size of the parking space – all while being on the lookout for pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists in the roadway. In contrast to the low-speed environment of parking lots, roadways are often designed for higher vehicle speeds, which conflict with low-speed maneuvers performed while parking a vehicle. Using an instrumented vehicle, our research aims to identify how drivers visually scan the environment while searching for on-street parking and to assess their level of stress. Results from this experiment will help engineers design safer roadways and assess applications of parking assist technology.