Deciding to be Distracted

Abstract

This project investigated the decision process involved in a driver’s willingness to engage in various technology-related and non-technology tasks. The project included focus groups and an on-road study, both employing participants who used in-vehicle technologies to at least some degree, from four age groups: teen, young, middle, and older. The focus groups discussed the perceptions, motivations, attitudes, and decision factors that underlie driver choices. The on-road study had two phases: an on-road drive and a take-home booklet. Participants drove their own vehicles over a specified route. They did not actually engage in in-vehicle tasks, but at specified points they rated their willingness to engage in some specific task at that time and place. Eighty-one different situations (combination of in-vehicle task and driving circumstances) were included. Further information was collected in the take-home booklet regarding the participant’s familiarity with various in-vehicle technologies, additional situations for willingness and risk ratings, stated reasons underlying ratings, and self-ratings of certain aspects of driving behavior and decision-making style. Together, the focus groups and on-road study provided complementary findings about how drivers decide when to engage in potentially distracting tasks. Driver willingness to engage in various in-vehicle tasks was related to technology type, specific task attributes, driving conditions, personal motivations, driving style, and decision style. Specific project findings were related to potential countermeasure approaches, including public education; driver or device user training; user interface design; needs for warnings and information; criteria for function lock-outs; and driver assist system criteria.