The impact of in-car displays on drivers in neighbouring cars: Survey and driving simulator experiment

Abstract

Legislation against drivers seeing an audiovisual display in their own vehicle does not prevent them from seeing audiovisual displays (such as those used with entertainment systems) in neighbouring vehicles. Resulting cognitive and visual distraction is likely to impair driving, but research is lacking. We conducted a survey ( N = 61) assessing whether drivers have seen and attended to audiovisual entertainment displays in other vehicles. In order to assess the effect of any such distraction on driving, we conducted a driving simulator experiment ( N = 28) in which each participant completed drives under four conditions: (1) while a laptop computer positioned as if in a neighbouring vehicle displayed no audiovisual entertainment materials; (2) while the laptop displayed entertainment materials, and given instructions to attend the materials; (3) while the laptop displayed entertainment materials, and given instructions to ignore the materials; (4) while the laptop displayed entertainment materials, and given no instructions. Thirty-one percent of survey respondents reported having ever seen an entertainment display. Amongst those who were driving at the time of last sighting, 87.5% reported having paid at least “a little” attention to the display. In the simulator experiment, drivers in the “attend” condition demonstrated lower mean speeds, lower variability in throttle input, greater variability in lane position on a curvy road section, and slower deceleration in response to a pedestrian, than those in the baseline condition. Results suggest that drivers pay attention to displays in neighbouring vehicles and this may impair driving. The negative impacts of audiovisual displays as external-to-vehicle distractors might by reduced by design innovations, and legislation limiting visibility of audiovisual displays to the drivers of other vehicles should be considered.