In-Vehicle Navigation Devices: Effects on the Safety of Driver Performance

Details

• Creators:
  Walker, J. ; Alicandri, Elizabeth ; Sedney, Catherine A. ; Roberts, King
• Corporate Creators:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Safety and Traffic Operations R&D
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Aids to navigation
  • Driver performance
  • Driving simulators
  • Information display systems
  • Lateral placement
  • Reaction time
  • Route guidance
  • Signal devices
  • Visual display units (Computers)
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-RD-90-053
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Abstract:
  Seven navigational devices were tested in the Federal Highway Administration Highway Driving Simulator (HYSIM) for their effects on safe driving performance. Younger, middle-aged, and older drivers navigated a 26-mi (41.8-km) route through simulated streets of Detroit, Michigan, using one of seven devices. A control group used strip maps. The other six used either an audio or visual device which was of either low, medium, or high complexity. The difficulty of the driving task (workload) was increased in three successive sections by adding crosswinds, another vehicle, gauge-monitoring, and mental arithmetic problems, and by narrowing the lanes. Measures included speed, average and variance of lateral placement, heart rate, and reaction time to gauge changes. Results indicate an interaction of age group and level of difficulty, such that higher levels of difficulty affected older drivers to a greater extent. Device differences suggest that audio devices are somewhat safer than visual devices, and moderate levels of complexity are preferable to higher levels. The complex visual device had the longest reaction times and the slowest speeds in sections where navigation tasks were performed.
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/68255/dot_68255_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.54 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Highway Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a7d8c83073028e32db812200577972f805f468b25fb67b7b9187cb22a28b5f7364bcd4ecb7bacb887eb8f34fb256963c31fa4279571b7fc023e16cf949117c5b