Effects of Technology on Drivers' Behavior during Backing Maneuvers.

Abstract

This paper examines how vehicle backing technologies affect driver performance during backing maneuvers. We conducted experiments using sport utility vehicles (SUV) with four technological variations: a baseline vehicle (B-L), a vehicle equipped with a parking sensor (PS-V), a vehicle equipped with a backup camera (hereafter BC-V), and a vehicle equipped with both technologies (BCPS-V). Two reverse parking maneuvers were tested: backing straight and backing diagonally into a parking space. For each vehicle, we measured the parameters of the driver's gaze, vehicle speed, the distance between the stopped vehicle and an object behind it, and the presence or absence of contact with the object. Fifteen drivers participated in the experiment. For backing straight, the B-L and PS-V drivers gazed at the driver-side mirror the longest; BC-V and BCPS-V drivers gazed at the monitor the longest. There was no significant difference in maximum speed among the four backing technology conditions. The PS-V was the farthest from the object when stopped, followed by the BCPS-V, the BC-V, and the B-L. Regarding the rate of noncontact, the BCPS-V ranked highest (67%, 95% confidence of interval [CI] [38%, 88%]), followed by the PS-V (60%, 95% CI [32%, 84%]), the BC-V (53%, 95% CI [27%, 79%]), and the B-L (20%, 95% CI [4%, 48%]). For backing diagonally, the B-L and PS-V drivers gazed at the passenger-side mirror the longest; BC-V and BCPS-V drivers gazed at the monitor the longest. The vehicles' maximum speed showed no significant difference between the four backing technologies. However, the presence of backing technologies significantly reduced the vehicle speed at the object location. Once stopped, the BCPS-V had the longest distance from the object behind it, followed by the PS-V, the BC-V, and the B-L. The rate of non-contact was the highest for the PS-V (73%, 95% CI [45%, 92%]), followed by the BCPS-V (67%, 95% CI [38%, 88%]), the BC-V (60%, 95% CI [32%, 84%]), and the B-L (20%, 95% CI [4%, 48%]). These results indicate that the backing technologies in this study reduced the probability of direct impact with objects situated behind the vehicles. However, focusing on backing diagonally, which requires more complicated driving, vehicles equipped with a sonar backing system appear, in this study, to perform better in terms of stopping distance than those that did not have sonar.