Abstract
Distracted driving is a leading cause of traffic accidents. It is influenced by driver attitude toward secondary tasks; however, field-based studies on the effects of low-perceived-risk tasks on lateral driving have rarely been reported. A total of 17 experienced non-professional drivers were recruited to participate in two secondary tasks: a cognitive experiment (conversation) and a visual distraction experiment (observation of following vehicles), each representing low-perceived-risk secondary tasks. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to evaluate the effects of low-perceived-risk tasks on lateral driving performance. ANOVA results indicated that compared with baseline (no task) lateral performance, lane-keeping ability was enhanced during cognitive distractions. In the visual distraction experiment, more than 50% of the distractions required 1–2 s. Lane deviation and its growth rate increased with the duration of distraction. Compared with cognitive distraction, lane deviation increased significantly with visual distraction, and lane-keeping performance was seriously impaired. For low-perceived-risk tasks, visual distractions impaired driving safety more seriously, compared with cognitive distractions, suggesting that drivers misjudge the risks associated with visual tasks. These results can contribute to the design of advanced driving-assistance systems and improve professional driver programs, potentially reducing the frequency of traffic accidents caused by distracted driving.
Highlights
Distracted driving due to secondary tasks is the main cause of traffic accidents
To examine the difference between perceived and actual risks associated with secondary tasks, this study evaluated the effects of low-perceived-risk secondary tasks on the lane-keeping performance of the driver on a real highway
2.5 Visual distraction In Trial 2, we evaluated the effects of a visual distraction task on the lane-keeping ability of the driver
Summary
Distracted driving due to secondary tasks is the main cause of traffic accidents. These secondary tasks include cognitive tasks (e.g., conversation and texting) and visual tasks (e.g., attending to surrounding vehicles and billboards) [1,2,3]. Gentzler et al [20] reported that conversation with passengers and looking at vehicles on the roadside were rated as low-risk distraction tasks by drivers Scenarios such as conversations and observing driving behaviors were common behaviors on actual roads [21, 22], classified as cognitive and visual distractions, respectively. Despite these findings, studies on whether perceived secondary tasks are low-risk during actual driving are rarely reported. The lane position of the vehicle was used to evaluate the lateral control of the driver while performing cognitive and visual distraction tasks (conversation and observing the road scenarios, respectively). To compare two low-perceived-risk secondary tasks, a lane deviation rate was selected; analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were performed to evaluate the effects of two types of distraction
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