Matthew R. E. Romoser

The Effect of Active Versus Passive Training Strategies on Improving Older Drivers’ Scanning in Intersections

Objective: This study aimed (a) to determine whether older drivers looked less often for potential threats while turning than younger drivers and (b) to compare the effectiveness of active and passive training on older drivers’ performance and evaluation of their driving skills in intersections. Background: Age-related declines in vision, physical abilities, psychomotor coordination, and cognition combine to make it less likely that older drivers will look for potential threats during a turn. Research suggests that active training should be an effective means of improving older drivers’ performance and self-awareness. Method: In Experiment 1, younger and older participants drove a series of virtual intersection scenarios, were shown video replays, and were provided feedback. In Experiment 2, older drivers were assigned to one of three cohorts: active simulator training, passive classroom training, or no training. Pre- and posttraining simulator and field drives assessed training effectiveness. Results: In Experiment 1, older drivers looked less often during turns than younger drivers. Customized feedback was successful in altering drivers’ perception of their abilities. In Experiment 2, active training increased a driver’s probability of looking for a threat during a turn by nearly 100% in both posttraining simulator and field drives. Those receiving passive training or no training showed no improvement. Conclusion: Compared with passive training, active training is a more effective strategy for increasing older drivers’ likelihood of looking for threats during a turn. Application: The results of this research can guide the development of programs that could reduce intersection crashes among older drivers.

Identifying and Remediating Failures of Selective Attention in Older Drivers

Older drivers are primarily overinvolved in crashes at intersections, and failure to attend to regions that contain relevant information about potential hazards is a major contributor to this problem. Corroborating this, we have found that older drivers in both controlled scenarios on a driving simulator and somewhat less controlled situations on the road attend to (i.e., fixate) target regions in intersections significantly less frequently than do younger experienced drivers. Moreover, we have developed a training program that substantially improves older drivers’ attention to these regions. Together, these findings indicate that older drivers’ less frequent scanning of regions at intersections from which hazards may emerge may be due to their developing something like an unsafe habit rather than to deteriorating physical or mental capabilities and thus that training may be effective in reducing crashes.

The effects of focused attention training on the duration of novice drivers' glances inside the vehicle.

Several studies have documented that the failure of drivers to attend to the forward roadway for a period lasting longer than 2–3 s is a major cause of highway crashes. Moreover, several studies have demonstrated that novice drivers are more likely to glance away from the roadway than the experienced drivers for extended periods when attempting to do a task inside the vehicle. The present study examines the efficacy of a PC-based training programme (FOrward Concentration and Attention Learning, FOCAL) designed to teach novice drivers not to glance away forthese extended periods of time. A FOCAL-trained group was compared with a placebo-trained group in an on-road test, and the FOCAL-trained group made significantly fewer glances away from the roadway that were more than 2 s than the placebo-trained group. Other measures indicated an advantage for the FOCAL-trained group as well. Statement of relevance: Distracted driving is increasingly a problem, as cell phones, navigation systems, and other in-vehicle devices are introduced into the cabin of the automobile. A training programme is described that has beentested on the open road and can reduce the behaviours that lead to crashes caused by the distracted driving.

Evaluation of Different Speech and Touch Interfaces to In-Vehicle Music Retrieval Systems

In-vehicle music retrieval systems are becoming more and more popular. Previous studies have shown that they pose a real hazard to drivers when the interface is a tactile one which requires multiple entries and a combination of manual control and visual feedback. Voice interfaces exist as an alternative. Such interfaces can require either multiple or single conversational turns. In this study, each of 17 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 years old was asked to use three different music retrieval systems (one with a multiple entry touch interface, the iPod, one with a multiple turn voice interface, interface B, and one with a single turn voice interface, interface C) while driving through a virtual world. Measures of secondary task performance, eye behavior, vehicle control, and workload were recorded. When compared with the touch interface, the voice interfaces reduced the total time drivers spent with their eyes off the forward roadway, especially in prolonged glances, as well as both the total number of glances away from the forward roadway and the perceived workload. Furthermore, when compared with driving without a secondary task, both voice interfaces did not significantly impact hazard anticipation, the frequency of long glances away from the forward roadway, or vehicle control. The multiple turn voice interface (B) significantly increased both the time it took drivers to complete the task and the workload. The implications for interface design and safety are discussed.

Do Advance Yield Markings Increase Safe Driver Behaviors at Unsignalized, Marked Midblock Crosswalks? Driving Simulator Study

In the United States, 78% of pedestrian crashes occur at noninter-section crossings. As a result, unsignalized, marked midblock crosswalks are prime targets for remediation. Many of these crashes occur under sight-limited conditions in which the view of critical information by the driver or pedestrian is obstructed by a vehicle stopped in an adjacent travel or parking lane on the near side of the crosswalk. Study of such a situation on the open road is much too risky, but study of the situation in a driving simulator is not. This paper describes the development of scenarios with sight limitations to compare potential vehicle–pedestrian conflicts on a driving simulator under conditions with two different types of pavement markings. Under the first condition, advance yield markings and symbol signs (prompts) that indicated “yield here to pedestrians” were used to warn drivers of pedestrians at marked, midblock crosswalks. Under the second condition, standard crosswalk treatments and prompts were used to warn drivers of these hazards. Actual crashes as well as the drivers’ point of gaze were measured to determine if the drivers approaching a marked midblock crosswalk looked for pedestrians in the crosswalk more frequently and sooner in high-risk scenarios when advance yield markings and prompts were present than when standard markings and prompts were used. Fewer crashes were found to occur with advance yield markings. Drivers were also found to look for pedestrians much more frequently and much sooner with advance yield markings. The advantages and limitations of the use of driving simulation to study problems such as these are discussed.

The long-term effects of active training strategies on improving older drivers' scanning in intersections: a two-year follow-up to Romoser and Fisher (2009)

Objective: To determine the long-term effects of active training on older drivers’ scanning in intersections, the present article reports the results of a 2-year follow-up with drivers who had previously participated the older driver training study reported in Romoser and Fisher. Background: Customized feedback coupled with active learning in a simulator has been shown to be an effective means of significantly improving the intersection scanning behavior of older drivers. However, the long-term effect of such training has not been established. Method: Older drivers from the active learning and control groups from Romoser and Fisher were invited to participate in a 2-year follow-up field drive in their own vehicle starting at their home. Secondary looks, defined as looking away from the path of the vehicle while entering the intersections toward regions to the side from which other vehicles could appear, were recorded. Results: Two years after their training, older drivers in the active learning group still took secondary looks more than one and a half times as often as 2009 pretraining levels. Control group drivers saw no significant change in performance over the 2-year period. Conclusion: Customized feedback and active learning in a simulator is an effective strategy for improving the safe driving habits of older drivers over the long term. It provides drivers a means by which to reincorporate previously extinguished behaviors into their driving habits. Application: These results can guide the development of older driver retraining programs that could have the potential to reduce intersection crashes.

Do crashes and near crashes in simulator-based training enhance novice drivers' visual search for latent hazards?

Young drivers (younger than 25 years of age) are overrepresented in crashes. Research suggests that a relevant cause is inadequate visual search for possible hazards that are hidden from view. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a low-cost, fixed-base simulator training program that would address this failure. It was hypothesized that elicited crashes in the simulator training would result in better scanning for latent hazards in scenarios that were similar to the training scenarios but situated in a different environment (near transfer), and, to a lesser degree, would result in better scanning in scenarios that had altogether different latent hazards than those contained in the training scenarios (far transfer). To test the hypotheses, 18 trained and 18 untrained young novice drivers were evaluated on an advanced driving simulator (different from the training simulator). The eye movements of both groups were measured. In near transfer scenarios, trained drivers fixated the hazardous region 84% of the time, compared with only 57% of untrained drivers. In far transfer scenarios, trained drivers fixated the hazardous region 71% of the time, compared with only 53% of untrained drivers. The differences between trained and untrained drivers in both the near transfer scenarios and the far transfer scenarios were significant, with a large effect size in the near transfer scenarios and a medium effect size in the far transfer scenarios [respectively: U = 63.00, p(2-tailed) > .01, r = -.53, and U = 88.00, p(2-tailed) > .05, r = -.39].

The influence of clear zone size and roadside vegetation on driver behavior

INTRODUCTION Roadside vegetation provides numerous environmental and psychological benefits to drivers. Previous studies have shown that natural landscapes can effectively lower crash rates and cause less frustration and stress to the driver. However, run-off-the-road crashes resulting in a collision with a tree are twice as likely to result in a fatality, reinforcing the need to examine the placement of vegetation within the clear zone. METHOD This study explores the relationship between the size of the clear zone and the presence of roadside vegetation on vehicle speed and lateral position. A static evaluation, distributed electronically to 100 licensed drivers, was utilized to gather speed selections for both real and virtual roads containing four combinations of clear zone sizes and roadside vegetation densities. A case study was included in the static evaluation to investigate the presence of utility poles near the edge of the road on speed selection. Validation of the static evaluation was performed by a field data collection on the same roadways shown to participants in the evaluation. RESULTS The speeds observed in the field for roadways with medium clear zone/dense vegetation or large clear zone/spare vegetation correlated with the speeds chosen by static evaluation participants. Further field data were obtained on vehicle speeds and lateral positions for additional roads demonstrating the same clear zone size/vegetation density combinations. PRACTICAL APPLICATION This study successfully demonstrates the relationship between clear zone design and driver behavior, which could improve clear zone design practices and thus roadway safety.

Effect of advance yield markings and symbolic signs on vehicle-pedestrian conflicts: field evaluation

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has made walkable communities a priority. Pedestrian safety is key to the success of this objective. Pedestrians are at especially high risk when traversing unsignalized, marked crosswalks located either midblock or at T-intersections, especially when a vehicle adjacent to the driver is blocking the view of a crossing pedestrian. Several treatments have been proposed to reduce crashes at such crosswalks in such situations. Two experiments were conducted in the town of Greenfield, Massachusetts, to assess the effectiveness of advance yield markings on drivers’ scanning for pedestrians and to study their yielding behavior. Advance yield markings consist of a line of white triangles 20 to 50 ft in advance of the crosswalk together with a sign indicating that drivers should yield at the markings. The first experiment was an observational one involving a staged pedestrian attempting to use the crosswalk, and the second experiment was an in-vehicle field study conducted on an open road course in Green-field. Results demonstrated that advance yield markings coupled with the vacating of parking spots immediately adjacent to the crosswalk to clear the line of sight of approaching vehicles improved yielding compliance. In addition, when advance yield markings and warning signs were present, drivers approaching the crosswalk were more likely to scan areas to the sides of the roadway at crosswalks in anticipation of a pedestrians entering the crosswalk.

Towards a Social Psychology-based Microscopic Model of Driver Behavior and Decision-making: Modifying Lewin's Field Theory

Abstract Central to effective roadway design is the ability to understand how drivers behave as they traverse a segment of roadway. While simple and complex microscopic models have been used over the years to analyse driver behaviour, most models: 1.) incorporate separate car-following and lane-changing algorithms, and thus do not capture the interdependencies between lane-changing and car-following vehicle; 2.) do not capture differences in the drivers’ cognitive and physical characteristics; and 3.) are constructed from observed vehicle movements and make no attempt to model the discrete differences between how each roadway element alters each drivers behaviour. This paper employs field theory to construct a conceptual framework for a new microscopic model. In field theory, an agent (e.g. the driver) views a field (i.e. the area surrounding the vehicle) filled with stimuli and perceives forces associated with each stimuli once these stimuli are internalized. Based on this theory, the resulting model would be designed to directly incorporate drivers’ perceptions to roadway stimuli along with vehicle movements for drivers of different cognitive and physical abilities. It is postulated that such a model would more effectively reflect reality, and if this model were accurately calibrated, could potentially model the effects of external stimuli such as innovative geometric configurations, lane closures, and technology applications such as variable message boards. A modified field theory could potentially capture and model “hot topics” in traffic engineering, such as the distracted drivers, road rage, the incorporation of ITS elements, and driver behaviour through a work zone.