Thomas A Dingus

FORWARD-LOOKING COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES

This paper presents preliminary guidelines for a forward looking collision warning system. It addresses aspects of performance including general system requirements, driver/vehicle interface methodology, collision dynamics, standardized testing and estimation of associated benefits.

THE EFFECTS OF SENSORY MODALITY AND INFORMATION PRIORITY ON IN-VEHICLE SIGNING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

During this study, subjects drove an interactive driving simulator and were presented road sign information from a visual dash-mounted LCD display or from digitized auditory voice. Information priority was also manipulated in that subjects received all sign information typically present in the roadway environment, or only “filtered” high priority regulatory and notification information. The effects of display type and filtering on information recall, driver performance, and driver preferences were measured. The results indicate that presenting information in an auditory mode results in a higher level of road sign information recall, but also decreases the subjects driving performance when compared to a visual display. Subjects were also able to recall more road sign information and drove at a higher level of performance during the filtered conditions. Subjects rated auditory information as more distracting than visual information.

Naturalistic Driving Study: Technical Coordination and Quality Control

This report describes the technical coordination and quality control carried out by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) for the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS). This project encompassed procurement of the data acquisition system (DAS) and all associated installation and driver assessment equipment; coordination of human subjects protections; participant recruitment; training and coordination of the six site contractors that carried out participant enrollment, instrumentation, and data retrieval; data management; data processing; and quality control. From October 2010 through November 2013, the study collected continuous driving information on more than 3,000 light-vehicle drivers, covering about 50 million miles of driving in the six study sites. In this report, potential users of the SHRP 2 NDS data or findings will find a summary of data collection methods and procedures, instrumentation, quality control, and project management.

Evaluating New Technologies to Enhance Night Vision by Looking at Detection and Recognition Distances of Non-Motorists and Objects

This empirical research aims to identify how new technologies are able to enhance night vision. This research provides empirical data on 12 vision enhancement systems taking into consideration factors such as driver age and type of objects on the roadway (i.e., static and dynamic objects). The results of this study are presented in terms of detection and recognition distances. When the detection distance of different objects were analyzed, the Infrared Thermal Imaging System resulted in the longest detection and recognition distance followed by the halogen low beam headlamps combined with high-output, medium-output, and hybrid ultraviolet headlamps. There was no significant difference, in terms of detection and recognition distances, among the halogen low beam (baseline) and when the ultraviolet headlamps are used. However, there was a significant difference among halogen low beam and high intensity discharge (HID), where halogen allowed drivers to detect and recognize objects at farther distance.

Human Factors Research Recommendations for the Development of Design Guidelines for Advanced Traveler Information Systems

This paper describes the outcome of a comprehensive literature review specifically conducted to assess research relevant to the design of advanced traveler information systems (ATIS) for automotive and commercial vehicle use. The goal of the literature review was to identify existing human factors guidelines applicable to the design of ATIS and gaps in the research precluding the development of comprehensive human factors guidelines for ATIS applications. A summary of ATIS research findings and research gaps is presented. Through presentation of both research findings and research gaps, it is hoped that interest will be sparked and focus will be provided for researchers in this growing application of human factors. Given the criticality of ATIS applications (both in terms of driver safety and public acceptance) and the visibility that will be provided to the human factors community from participation in ATIS design, human factors research leading to comprehensive and usable guidelines is extremely important.

Effects of Haptic Brake Pulse Warnings on Driver Behavior during an Intersection Approach

Intersection crashes account for nearly a quarter of all police reported crashes, and 39% of these result in injury or death. In this experiment, haptic warnings were explored as an alternative to auditory and visual warnings as part of an overall effort to reduce the number of intersection related crashes. The study objective was to determine the haptic brake pulse warning candidate that most often results in the driver successfully stopping for an intersection. Five candidate brake pulse warnings were tested; these varied with respect to length and number of pulses. Significant differences were found between haptic conditions for peak and constant deceleration. Participants receiving the haptic warning were 38 times more likely to stop than those receiving no warning.

A validation of the low mileage bias using naturalistic driving study data

INTRODUCTIONnThis paper evaluated the low mileage bias (LMB) phenomenon for senior drivers using data mined from the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) Naturalistic Driving Study. Supporters of the LMB construct postulate that it is only those seniors who drive the lowest annual mileage who are primarily responsible for the increased crash rates traditionally attributed to this population in general.nnnMETHODnThe current analysis included 802 participants, all aged 65 or older who were involved in 163 property damage and injury crashes, and deemed to be at-fault in 123 (75%) of those instances. Poisson regression models were used to evaluate the association between annualized mileage driven and crash risk.nnnRESULTSnResults show that the crash rate for drivers with lower annualized mileage (i.e., especially for those driving fewer than approximately 3000miles per year) was significantly higher than that of drivers with higher annualized mileage, and that 25% of the overall sample were low- mileage drivers according to this criterion. Data were also evaluated by gender and meta-age group (i.e., younger-old: 65-74 and older-old: 75-99), and the results were consistent across these sub-groups.nnnCONCLUSIONSnThis study provides strong support for the existence of the LMB.nnnPRACTICAL APPLICATIONSnThese results can help to reshape how transportation safety stakeholders view senior drivers in general and help them to focus their efforts on those seniors most in need of either risk-reducing countermeasures or alternative means of transportation.

Descriptive Analysis of Light Vehicle-Heavy Vehicle Interactions from the Light Vehicle Driver's Perspective

A naturalistic driving study involving 100 light vehicles equipped with video cameras and other data collection equipment was recently completed. The resulting data set was searched to identify critical incidents involving both light vehicles (LVs) and heavy vehicles (HVs). Each incident was coded on a number of dimensions including the type of incident (what happened) and the Critical Reason for the incident (why it happened). Goals of the analysis included gaining a better understanding of LVHV interactions and providing background information that would serve as a necessary prerequisite to the development of crash countermeasures. For 217 of the 246 LV-HV interaction incidents recorded, the event initiator was attributed to either the LV driver (64%) or the HV driver (36%). The most frequent Incident Type for LV driver initiated incidents was Late Braking for Stopped/Stopping Traffic (41.3%), followed by Lane Change Without Sufficient Gap (21.7%). The most frequently noted Critical Reasons for LV driver initiated incidents were Aggressive Driving Behavior (24.6%), Too Fast for Conditions (15.2%), and Internal Distraction (13.8%). Given that LV drivers were more likely to have initiated an incident, it is believed that efforts at addressing the LV-HV interaction problem should include focusing on the LV driver.

Lessons Learned during Two Naturalistic Truck-Driving Studies

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) was contracted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to collect data from Commercial Vehicle Operators (CVO) under two contracts. The first study, Impact of Local/Short Haul Operations on Driver Fatigue (Hanowski, et al., 2000), focused on those drivers who drive an average of three hours a day while delivering goods but sleep at home each night. The second study, Impact of Sleeper Berth Usage on Driver Fatigue (Dingus, et al., 2002), studied fatigue in drivers who are on the road up to two weeks at a time and use the truck sleeper-berth unit for rest. Each study presented unique obstacles to overcome in order to make data collection possible. This paper will summarize the lessons learned during recruiting, truck licensing, and coordination and will provide insight into the rigors of collecting data in a truck-driving environment.

The Effects of Area Familiarity and Navigation Method on ATIS Use

This paper describes the driver performance and behavioral interaction results of a comparison between visitors to a major city (Orlando) and local drivers while using differing navigation configurations of an Advanced Traveler Information System (ATIS). The system utilized for the study was TravTek, a device which provided in-vehicle information via color touch screen CRT, steering wheel buttons, and synthesized voice. The TravTek driver interface was developed with the intent of providing navigation, service and attractions, and roadway incident and traffic information to the driver. Both visitors and local users tested six different navigation-aid configurations. The six navigation-aids included: static turn-by-turn graphics and a moving map both with and without voice, a paper map and a textual direction list. The research showed that visitors drove more cautiously, but they made more glances to the navigation-aids when compared to local users. In addition, visitors went off-route and got lost less frequently than local users. Visitors apparently were more careful in driving and navigating to their destinations.