Contingent negative variation during a modified cueing task in simulated driving.

Zizheng Guo,Xi Tan,Lin Wang,Zhen Peng,Xian Liu,Guozhen Zhao,Yufan Pan,Feng Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224966

Abstract

The obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crash has become a serious danger to driving safety. The present study aims to investigate the contingent negative variation (CNV) during the anticipation of an obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crash in simulated driving. We adopted two cueing tasks: (i) a traditional cognitive paradigm of cueing task that has been widely used to study anticipatory process, and (ii) a modified cueing task in simulated driving scenes, in which Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals of 32 participants were recorded to detect the CNV. Simulated car following and pedestrian crossing tasks were designed to measure anticipation-related driving behaviors. The results showed that both early and late CNVs were observed in two cueing tasks. The mean amplitude of the late CNV during a modified cueing task in simulated driving was significantly larger than that in a traditional cueing task, which was not the case for the early CNV potentials. In addition, both early and late CNVs elicited in simulated driving were significantly correlated with anticipatory driving behaviors (e.g., the minimum time to collision). These findings show that CNV potentials during the anticipation of an obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crash might predict anticipation-related risky driving behaviors.

Highlights

The obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crash refers to the scenario in which a pedestrian pops up from the blind spot generated by a parked vehicle in front of the driver
The average scalp map distribution (2000~3000 ms) (Fig 5C) showed that the late contingent negative variation (CNV) was spatially localized at the central lobe, which was consistent with the late CNV topographic scalp distribution area [19, 30]
The present study investigated the existence of CNV in a simulated obscured pedestrian task in the hope of finding a potential way to decrease the risk of obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes

Summary

Introduction

The obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crash refers to the scenario in which a pedestrian pops up from the blind spot generated by a parked vehicle in front of the driver. This type of crash has become a serious hidden danger to driving safety in recent years. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), pedestrians were obscured from drivers’ views in 13 percent of all pedestrian involvements and 17 percent of pedestrian deaths in the United States from 2005 to 2009 [1]. In China, more than 200,000 people die in traffic accidents every year due to obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes [2], and obscured pedestrian-motor vehicle crashes usually occur at bus stations due to the large blind area. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Methods

Results

Conclusion