Evaluating the Effects of Connected Vehicle Weather and Work Zone Warnings on Truck Drivers’ Workload and Distraction using Eye Glance Behavior

Abstract

This study acts in support of the Wyoming Department of Transport (WYDOT) connected vehicle pilot efforts in the deployment of effective, safe, and user-centered connected vehicle (CV) applications and human machine interface (HMI) displays. This study sought to quantify the workload demands and distraction introduced by the pilot’s spot weather impact warning (SWIW) and work zone warning (WZW) applications on professional truck drivers. Using driving simulator experimentation and eye-tracking technology, the effects of exposure to the CV warnings on the participants’ glance behavior were quantified. The study revealed that the weather notifications did not invoke any notable workload or distraction to the participants. Conversely, the WZWs deteriorated the participants’ roadway scanning behavior and brought about prolonged off-road glances, and therefore could carry adverse safety impacts to drivers in real-life conditions. This was largely attributed to the fact that, unlike the weather notifications, the WZW application appeared to have over-communicated information to the participants during a short time window and under difficult driving conditions and resulted in a relatively cluttered HMI. In light of these findings, WYDOT, the leading pilot stakeholder, is amending the design of the WZW application in such a way that message flow rate is reduced and only necessary information is displayed. All in all, the methodology applied in this study was effective in uncovering the overall effects of exposure to CV warnings and therefore could be useful for evaluating workload and distraction in the context of emergent advanced driver assistance systems.