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Distraction, experience, and drivers’ coping strategy

Distraction, experience, and drivers’ coping strategy
Distraction, experience, and drivers’ coping strategy
The use of modern in-vehicle systems such as satellite navigation while driving can distract drivers and caused safety concerns. Although drivers can adopt strategies to cope with the additional task demand, these are not always apparent or effective, and it is not clear whether increased driving experience would improve this. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the effect of driving experience on the ability to perform in-vehicle tasks, including the impact on performance and visual behavior, and the coping strategies adopted. An on-road experiment was conducted using a set of in vehicle tasks to investigate the behavior and performance of three different driver groups, with experience ranging from less than 10 years to more than 21. The results show that the performance across all driver experience groups deteriorated as a consequence of the extra workload imposed by the in-vehicle tasks, and each group engaged in compensatory behaviors. However, the more experienced drivers performed better in both the driving and in-vehicle tasks, as they were more aware of the impact of these distractions. Furthermore, the most experienced drivers showed the deployment of advanced coping strategies / self-regulation to deal with the dual-tasking situation, which maximized safety with performance, and that prioritized driving over the in-vehicle tasks. These findings are consistent with control-maneuver-strategy behavior theory, i.e. as drivers become better at lower level behavior or vehicle control, they can improve their higher level behavior or awareness, but the highest level of strategic behavior can only be achieved through even greater experience.
Yang, Yan
129a849a-f4b6-489f-89e9-30a1c3138021
Reimer, Bryan
378f1982-7dd1-4833-badf-dc021402dac4
Mehler, Bruce
68f10603-5d0e-472e-b474-e80610c7f778
Wong, Alan
5f0c96fb-605f-4c3d-a50d-3f07e6e7c8f2
McDonald, Mike
cd5b31ba-276b-41a5-879c-82bf6014db9f
Coughlin, Joseph
ed9b4bfd-2577-45f6-a553-5ad923bb2013
Yang, Yan
129a849a-f4b6-489f-89e9-30a1c3138021
Reimer, Bryan
378f1982-7dd1-4833-badf-dc021402dac4
Mehler, Bruce
68f10603-5d0e-472e-b474-e80610c7f778
Wong, Alan
5f0c96fb-605f-4c3d-a50d-3f07e6e7c8f2
McDonald, Mike
cd5b31ba-276b-41a5-879c-82bf6014db9f
Coughlin, Joseph
ed9b4bfd-2577-45f6-a553-5ad923bb2013

Yang, Yan, Reimer, Bryan, Mehler, Bruce, Wong, Alan, McDonald, Mike and Coughlin, Joseph (2013) Distraction, experience, and drivers’ coping strategy. Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington, United States. 13 - 17 Jan 2013. 14 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

The use of modern in-vehicle systems such as satellite navigation while driving can distract drivers and caused safety concerns. Although drivers can adopt strategies to cope with the additional task demand, these are not always apparent or effective, and it is not clear whether increased driving experience would improve this. This paper aims to provide an understanding of the effect of driving experience on the ability to perform in-vehicle tasks, including the impact on performance and visual behavior, and the coping strategies adopted. An on-road experiment was conducted using a set of in vehicle tasks to investigate the behavior and performance of three different driver groups, with experience ranging from less than 10 years to more than 21. The results show that the performance across all driver experience groups deteriorated as a consequence of the extra workload imposed by the in-vehicle tasks, and each group engaged in compensatory behaviors. However, the more experienced drivers performed better in both the driving and in-vehicle tasks, as they were more aware of the impact of these distractions. Furthermore, the most experienced drivers showed the deployment of advanced coping strategies / self-regulation to deal with the dual-tasking situation, which maximized safety with performance, and that prioritized driving over the in-vehicle tasks. These findings are consistent with control-maneuver-strategy behavior theory, i.e. as drivers become better at lower level behavior or vehicle control, they can improve their higher level behavior or awareness, but the highest level of strategic behavior can only be achieved through even greater experience.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: January 2013
Additional Information: Paper #13-3852
Venue - Dates: Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting, Washington, United States, 2013-01-13 - 2013-01-17
Organisations: Transportation Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354853
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354853
PURE UUID: 4ce77f3a-183d-4970-b729-2d2fc00c2c4b

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Date deposited: 25 Jul 2013 15:42
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 14:25

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Contributors

Author: Yan Yang
Author: Bryan Reimer
Author: Bruce Mehler
Author: Alan Wong
Author: Mike McDonald
Author: Joseph Coughlin

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