Driver Error Research Articles

The role of attention in horizontal curves: A comparison of advance warning, delineation, and road marking treatments

Horizontal curves have been recognized as a significant safety issue for many years, a more important factor than road width or sight distance. The research literature suggests that driver errors associated with horizontal curves result from three inter-related problems: failures of driver attention, misperceptions of speed and curvature, and poor lane positioning. To examine the roles of attentional, perceptual, and lane placement factors in driver behaviour at curves, two groups of curve treatments were identified for testing with a driving simulator. The first group of treatments consisted of four combinations of warning signs designed to alert drivers to the presence of curves and produce a reduction in curve approach speeds. The second group was comprised of several types of road markings designed to affect drivers’ speed and lane position as they drove through curves. The results indicated that advance warning signs by themselves were not as effective at reducing speeds as when they were used in conjunction with chevron sight boards and/or repeater arrows. Of the road marking treatments only rumble strips produced any appreciable reductions in speed. A herringbones road marking was found to produce significant improvements in drivers’ lane positions, effectively flattening the drivers’ paths through the curves. A treatment combining the herringbones treatment with chevron and repeater arrow signs produced both a reliable reduction in speed as well as improved lane positions. The results are interpreted as evidence that treatments that highlight perceptual cues are the most effective means of moderating drivers’ curve speeds.

TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS MODELING BASED ON BCD MODEL AND REDUNDANT PREDICTION TOOLS

Prediction of Highway Code violations is one of the key concepts that may improve safety by avoiding errors of drivers. For this, we analyse drivers' behaviour by the mean of several objective criteria relating to comfort and security. These criteria are taken as they are or are interpreted with the Benefits, Costs and potential Deficit (BCD) model before being computed by two different prediction methods. We show how the combination of methods improves the prediction rate as well as providing information about the results' reliability.

Evaluating Effect of Two Allowable Permissive Left-Turn Indications

NCHRP Report 493 recommended that a flashing yellow arrow (FYA) permissive indication be included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices as an alternative option to the circular green (CG). However, as implementation of the FYA permissive indication proceeds, there will be two permissive indications for practitioners to consider at protected–permissive left-turn applications. Using two signal indications that provide drivers with the same message has the potential to increase driver error. Specifically, once drivers are exposed to and understand the meaning of the FYA, it is unclear as to expectancy violations and the likelihood of incorrect interpretation of the CG as a protected left-turn indication. This research employed a multifaceted behavioral experiment, including a dynamic driving simulator experiment and computer-based static evaluations, to quantify any change in driver comprehension of CG indications resulting from the FYA permissive indication. In the simulator, comprehension of the CG permissive indication following exposure to the FYA permissive indication did not differ significantly from driver comprehension of the CG before exposure to the FYA. In a follow-up static evaluation, drivers exposed to the FYA permissive indication were actually more likely to give yield (correct) responses to the CG permissive indication. In a separate independent static evaluation of 100 drivers, the breakdown of responses did not differ statistically from responses collected before and after exposure to the FYA. Results provide little evidence to suggest that the FYA implementation will affect driver comprehension of the CG.

4306 先急ぎ課題を課した場合の運転行動の解析(G18-2 運転負荷,運転行動,省エネルギー,G18 交通・物流)

The traffic accidents are closely related to three elements of the vehicles, the traffic environments, and the drivers. Hasty drive is one of the main causes of traffic accidents relating to driver error. In hasty condition, it is said that the drivers take a risky behavior. This often leads to traffic accidents. Then, in this paper, we focus the driver behavior when passing lead vehicle, and analyze the timing of passing judgment in normal drive and hasty drive using the indices about approaching perception. As the result, it is shown that characteristics of risk perception and judgment to approaching vehicle are changed in hasty condition.

Traffic Control Devices and Barrier Systems at Grade Crossings: Literature Review

Accidents at grade crossings are a significant concern to the railroad industry, and a large proportion of these accidents are the result of driver error. To understand drivers' decisions and actions, FRA sponsored the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in the conduct of a literature review of research from 1990 to 2006 examining driver behavior at grade crossings. This review is intended to update the 1990 report Driver Behavior at Rail-Highway Crossings and to provide input for developing countermeasures to discourage dangerous driving behavior. This paper summarizes a small portion of the problem and presents findings from the review addressing the design and effectiveness of grade crossing traffic control devices and barrier systems. Although drivers generally understand that a grade crossing is nearby upon seeing one of five warning devices (crossbuck, advance warning sign, pavement markings, flashing light signals, and automatic gates), the precise meaning of the devices and the driver action required may not be well discriminated. This paper addresses the design of signs and presents the results of evaluations examining driver detection, comprehension, and compliance with current and proposed warning sign systems; discusses a way to improve the design of pavement markings; examines the causes for noncompliance at active crossings and considers ways to improve compliance by introducing barrier systems and by improving warning device credibility; and makes recommendations for practitioners and suggestions for additional research.

The use of expert knowledge in the development of simulations for train driver training

The current study was undertaken to inform the development of simulations for improving train driver’s decision making under degraded track conditions. Trains are sophisticated heavy machinery and their performance is ever increasing resulting in the driving task becoming more complex and progressively dominated by cognitive and perceptual skills. A critical part of reducing the potential for train driver error and of increasing performance lies in the appropriate design of simulation training. In the current study a cognitive task analysis, using the critical decision method (CDM) was undertaken using a focus group research design. The process resulted in increased knowledge of expert train driver decision-making processes. Across four major incidents analyzed 11 decision points, 17 cues, 30 essential responsive actions and 45 possible errors where identified. The use of these results for supporting the design of simulation training and associated performance measures is discussed.

Driving task analysis as a tool in traffic safety research and practice

The paper explains the need for task analysis in the context of car driving, because the interaction between the car drivers‘ capabilities and the demands of the actual driving task determines the outcome in terms of a more or less safe driving behaviour. After reviewing past approaches, the main focus is on the presentation of a new procedure for driving task analysis and driver requirement assessment (SAFE: Situative Anforderungsanalyse von Fahraufgaben). A framework for task analysis is derived both from classifications of road traffic situations and a model of the drivers’ information processing. The first step of the procedure is to divide a given driving task into subtasks. These subtasks are appointed to defined stretches of the road and the time structure of the subtasks is determined. For each subtask an analysis format is used, that organizes different requirements into perception, expectation, judgement, memory, decision and driver action. Then, typical driver errors are attached to the subtasks, and all the information together is compressed to ratings of complexity and risk in order to derive the crucial subtasks. Finally, some examples of how the method can be applied are presented and its future usefulness is discussed.

Impaired visual search in drivers with Parkinson's disease

To assess the ability for visual search and recognition of roadside targets and safety errors during a landmark and traffic sign identification task in drivers with Parkinson's disease (PD). Seventy-nine drivers with PD and 151 neurologically normal older adults underwent a battery of visual, cognitive, and motor tests. The drivers were asked to report sightings of specific landmarks and traffic signs along a four-lane commercial strip during an experimental drive in an instrumented vehicle. The drivers with PD identified significantly fewer landmarks and traffic signs, and they committed more at-fault safety errors during the task than control subjects, even after adjusting for baseline errors. Within the PD group, the most important predictors of landmark and traffic sign identification rate were performances on Useful Field of View (visual speed of processing and attention) and Complex Figure Test-Copy (visuospatial abilities). Trail Making Test (B-A), a measure of cognitive flexibility independent of motor function, was the only independent predictor of at-fault safety errors in drivers with PD. The cognitive and visual deficits associated with PD resulted in impaired visual search while driving, and the increased cognitive load during this task worsened their driving safety.

A Human Error Analysis of U.S. Fatal Highway Crashes 1990–2004

For decades, motor vehicle crashes have consistently been one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. Historically, few attempts to address this problem have focused on human error. Even fewer have incorporated an analysis of human error when assessing possible preventative measures. The Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) is an established framework for investigating and analyzing human error associated with accidents in other transportation modes such as aviation and rail. This study seeks to extend the application of HFACS to driver error in fatal motor vehicle crashes. Preliminary HFACS results suggest skill-based errors and violations are prevalent in fatal motor vehicle crashes. Relationships between driver error, lighting conditions, and States were also observed. Further investigations will be aimed at identifying the fundamental areas of human error relative to real world driving to identify data-driven interventions.

The economics of precision guidance with auto-boom control for farmer-owned agricultural sprayers

Precision guidance and precision sprayer control have substantial promise to reduce input application overlap, thus saving chemicals, fuel, and time during the application process. In this article we provide preliminary estimates of the magnitude of the private benefits for a precision guidance system combined with auto-boom control for agricultural sprayers (precision spraying). Hypothetical farm fields are analyzed, allowing comparison of the performance of the precision system to a traditional, non-precision system for different field shapes. An analysis of the impact of size of farm on system profitability also is explored. Our analyses suggest that, even when considering only private benefits of input savings, the value derived from a precision spraying system can be substantial. This is especially true when the sprayer patterns become more complex due to non-rectangular fields and due to the presence of waterways, drainage ditches or similar obstructions. Economic benefits of the precision spraying system increase proportionally to the cost of the spray material being applied and with the number of annual applications. Benefits also increase with increases in driver error rates for non-precision systems. Because most of the costs of the precision spraying system relate to the fixed investment, these costs are largely constant regardless of farm size. This translates to net benefits of precision spraying that increase with increased farm size.

The impact of secondary task cognitive processing demand on driving performance

Crash causation research has identified inattention as a major source of driver error leading to crashes. The series of experiments presented herein investigate the characteristics of an in-vehicle information system (IVIS) task that could hinder driving performance due to uncertainty buildup and cognitive capture. Three on-road studies were performed that used instrumented passenger and tractor-trailer vehicles to obtain real-world driving performance data. Participants included young, middle-aged, and older passenger vehicle drivers and middle-aged and older commercial vehicle operators. While driving, they were presented with IVIS tasks with various information densities, decision-making elements, presentation formats, and presentation modalities (visual or auditory). The experiments showed that, for both presentation modalities, the presence of multiple decision-making elements in a task had a substantial negative impact on driving performance of both automobile drivers and truck drivers when compared to conventional tasks or tasks with only one decision-making element. The results from these experiments can be used to improve IVIS designs, allowing for potential IVIS task phenomena such as uncertainty buildup and cognitive capture to be avoided.

Comparing safety climate factors as predictors of work-related driving behavior

Introduction Research suggests safety climate (SC) is a strong predictor of safety-related outcomes in organizations. This study explores the relationship between six SC dimensions and four aspects of work-related driving. Method The SC factors measured were “communication and procedures,” “work pressures,” “relationships,” “safety rules,” “driver training,” and “management commitment.” The aspects of self-reported occupational driving measured were traffic violations, driver error, driving while distracted, and pre-trip vehicle maintenance. Results Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the SC factors accounted for significant amounts of variance in all four aspects of work-related driving, over and above the control factors of age, sex, and work-related driving exposure. However, further investigation indicated certain SC factors (particularly safety rules, communication, and management commitment) were more strongly related to specific aspects of work-related driving behavior than others. Together, the SC factors were better able to predict self-reported distraction from the road than the other aspects of driving behavior measured. Implications for occupational safety, particularly for the management of work-related drivers are discussed.

Design of Safe Urban Roadsides: An Empirical Analysis

To date, there has been little examination of the area of roadside safety on nonfreeway urban roads. To understand better the design of safe roadsides in urban environments, this study used negative binomial regression models to examine the safety effects of three roadside design strategies: widening paved shoulders, widening fixed-object offsets, and providing livable-street treatments. The model results indicated that of the three strategies, only the livable-streets variable was consistently and negatively associated with reductions in roadside and midblock crashes. Wider shoulders were found to increase roadside and midblock crashes, while unpaved fixed-object offsets had a mixed safety effect by decreasing roadside crashes but having a slightly positive effect on midblock crashes. To understand better the reasons for these findings, this study then examined roadside crash site locations for tree and utility pole crashes. It found that the majority (between 65% and 83%) did not involve random midblock encroachments, as currently assumed, but instead involved objects located behind both driveways and side streets along higher-speed urban arterials. Collectively, these findings suggest that most urban roadside crashes are not the result of random error but are instead systematically encoded into the design of the roadway. The study concluded by distinguishing between random and systematic driver errors and by discussing strategies for eliminating systematic error while minimizing the consequences of random error.

Design of Safe Urban Roadsides

To date, there has been little examination of the area of roadside safety on nonfreeway urban roads. To understand better the design of safe roadsides in urban environments, this study used negative binomial regression models to examine the safety effects of three roadside design strategies: widening paved shoulders, widening fixed-object offsets, and providing livable-street treatments. The model results indicated that of the three strategies, only the livable-streets variable was consistently and negatively associated with reductions in roadside and midblock crashes. Wider shoulders were found to increase roadside and midblock crashes, while unpaved fixed-object offsets had a mixed safety effect by decreasing roadside crashes but having a slightly positive effect on midblock crashes. To understand better the reasons for these findings, this study then examined roadside crash site locations for tree and utility pole crashes. It found that the majority (between 65% and 83%) did not involve random midblock encroachments, as currently assumed, but instead involved objects located behind both driveways and side streets along higher-speed urban arterials. Collectively, these findings suggest that most urban roadside crashes are not the result of random error but are instead systematically encoded into the design of the roadway. The study concluded by distinguishing between random and systematic driver errors and by discussing strategies for eliminating systematic error while minimizing the consequences of random error.

Safety Assessment of Information Delay on Performance of Intelligent Vehicle Control System

Recently, increasing attention has been put on the use of automated vehicle control systems to reduce traffic crashes due to driver errors. Proposed systems rely on either onboard range sensors or vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communications to obtain pertinent information about surrounding vehicles and to determine appropriate acceleration or deceleration commands. Although numerous studies have used microscopic traffic simulation to study the effects that these systems might have on traffic flows, generally these studies did not consider all factors that may affect their operation. A particular element that has been ignored is delay in data acquisition. Using a microscopic traffic simulation model that was developed to simulate intelligent transportation system applications relying on the use of onboard vehicle sensors or wireless transmissions, this paper attempts to quantify the safety effects created by the use of delayed information in automated vehicle control systems. The study clearly indicates that information delay affects the operation of vehicle control systems, particularly when sensor or transmission delays result in the use of information older than a certain threshold, found in this case to be 0.5 s.

Safety Assessment of Information Delay on Performance of Intelligent Vehicle Control System

Recently, increasing attention has been put on the use of automated vehicle control systems to reduce traffic crashes due to driver errors. Proposed systems rely on either onboard range sensors or vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communications to obtain pertinent information about surrounding vehicles and to determine appropriate acceleration or deceleration commands. Although numerous studies have used microscopic traffic simulation to study the effects that these systems might have on traffic flows, generally these studies did not consider all factors that may affect their operation. A particular element that has been ignored is delay in data acquisition. Using a microscopic traffic simulation model that was developed to simulate intelligent transportation system applications relying on the use of onboard vehicle sensors or wireless transmissions, this paper attempts to quantify the safety effects created by the use of delayed information in automated vehicle control systems. The study clearly indicates that information delay affects the operation of vehicle control systems, particularly when sensor or transmission delays result in the use of information older than a certain threshold, found in this case to be 0.5 s.

Ergonomics of steering wheel mounted switch–how number and arrangement of steering wheel mounted switches interactively affects performance

Recently, the use of steering wheel mounted switches has been receiving attention. Such switches allow a driver to maintain his or her focus on the road. If the number of steering wheel mounted switches or their arrangement is improper, the advantage of using them may be diminished, and many operator errors may occur. The objective of this study was to examine how the number of steering wheel mounted switches and their arrangement interactively affected a driver's performance. The participants were required to press a specified switch while performing a first-order tracking task. The number of steering wheel mounted switches affected the reaction time in the switch operation task. With regard to the method of arranging the steering wheel mounted switches, the cross-type arrangement was more effective than a vertical-type arrangement. The cross-type arrangement with three steering wheel mounted switches provided the best performance and highest psychological rating. Relevance to industry Cars equipped with steering wheel mounted switches are increasing. However, the number and arrangement of switches differ among automobile manufacturers, and there are no specific design guidelines on the number and arrangement of steering wheel mounted switches. Such guidelines would contribute to safety and efficiency by determining the optimum number of steering wheel mounted switches and their arrangement. Consequently, such a study would be expected to result in a reduction in driver errors and vehicle accidents.

The relationships between organizational and individual variables to on-the-job driver accidents and accident-free kilometres

Highway fatalities are the leading cause of fatal work injuries in the US, accounting for approximately 1 in 4 of the 5900 job-related deaths during 2001. The present study focused on the contribution of organizational factors and driver behaviours to on-the-job driving accidents in a large Western Canadian corporation. A structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was used which allows researchers to test a complex set of relationships within a global theoretical framework. A number of scales were used to assess organizational support, driver errors, and driver behaviours. The sample of professional drivers that participated allowed the recording of on-the-job accidents and accident-free kilometres from their personnel files. The pattern of relationships in the fitted model, after controlling for exposure and social desirability, provides insight into the role of organizational support, planning, environment adaptations, fatigue, speed, errors and moving citations to on-the-job accidents and accident-free kilometres. For example, organizational support affected the capacity to plan. Time to plan work-related driving was found to predict accidents, fatigue and adaptations to the environment. Other interesting model paths, SEM limitations, future research and recommendations are elaborated.

Identification of cutting errors in precision hard turning process

During past 10 years, the availability of polycrystalline cubic boron nitride (PCBN) tools has made application of hard turning increase remarkably in a range of industrial areas, especially in automotive, roller bearing and hydraulic industry. Among the applications of CBN cutting tools, precision hard turning attracts great interests since its environmentally friendly and flexibility, which ultimately has potential to replace grinding. Using today’s high precision hard turning with high precision motion control, high static and dynamic stiffness and thermal stability CNC machine, the dimensional accuracy can reach IT5. However, this accuracy still does not meet the demands from most industries. In addition, precision hard turning has been hampered by uncertainties with respect to part quality and process reliability. Many factors affect the machining accuracy and process stability. The presented work analysis the possible error driver factor and error sources in a precision hard turning and the strategy of on-line compensation of the dimensional errors in the process, based on the monitoring of tool wear and prediction of thermal expansion. Test results indicate that within the certain range of flank wear the developed method can improve the geometric accuracy significantly.

Relationship between Infrastructure, Driver Error, and Critical Incidents

During the course of a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)-sponsored research project ”Identification of Driver Errors,” ”driver errors” in crashes and near-crashes (i.e., critical incidents) were investigated and an analysis approach was developed to help identify infrastructure-related and non-infrastructure-related problems at intersections and other roadway sites. The research team carefully examined the relationship between the infrastructure, driver error, and critical incidents. This was accomplished by first determining which incidents appeared to have an infrastructure component (signing, signaling, delineation, alinement, geometry, etc.). These incidents were then reexamined to determine the precise nature of the infrastructure components. Once the problems had been identified, countermeasures were suggested. This work is a demonstration of the synergistic effects of combining human factors engineering techniques with traffic engineering. By broadening the earlier traffic-conflict technique to include greater consideration of driver behavior, with emphasis on generalized driver errors, a better understanding of critical incidents and their corresponding countermeasures has been obtained.