Tactile encoding of directions and temporal distances to safety hazards supports drivers in overtaking and intersection scenarios

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Safe traffic participation requires continuous monitoring of the environment for potential safety hazards. Here we investigate, to what extent an interface using directed tactile stimuli to communicate temporal distances to approaching objects can make drivers feel supported and influence their driving safety. In contrast to previous studies, we focus on conditions in which the driver has relatively high levels of control over the criticality of evolving hazards as well as on scenarios with laterally approaching hazards. In a dynamic driving simulator experiment, 33 participants completed a selection of overtaking and intersection scenarios with and without sensory support. Furthermore, two novel variants of the interface which differed in the resolution of the temporal distance encoding were utilized. We measured safety, quantified as minimum time-to-contact (mTTC) and rate of critical situations, and assessed the participants’ subjective understanding, acceptance and perceived helpfulness of the support functions. Participants understood the system in both variants after brief exposure. The subjective evaluation was positive with regard to helpfulness, acceptance, and custom questionnaire responses. While mTTC values did not differ between supported and baseline drives, the availability of the system reduced the occurrence of safety–critical situations in intersection scenarios. Driving statistics further reveal that the availability of the system increased the likelihood for entering system-relevant signaling ranges in overtaking scenarios. In sum, the presented work extends previous findings by showing that the subjective utility of the investigated tactile interface applies beyond critical situations and that it can also provide a safety advantage at intersections.