Non-professional Drivers Research Articles

Optimum Response of Air-conduction Induced Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential in Drivers.

Context:During driving, the plane of movement in drivers is horizontal. Hence, utricles and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) pathway are over stimulated. The ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potential (oVEMP) is utilized to evaluate the function of utricle and VOR pathway.Aim:This study aimed to assess the function of utricle and VOR using oVEMP among the drivers and compare it with non-professional drivers.Study Design:Comparative cross-sectional study.Methods:A total of 30 non-professional drivers and 30 professional drivers between ages of 18 and 45 years were evaluated in this study. Drivers with minimum of 5 years driving experience and minimum 3 h of driving per day were included. The oVEMPs were recorded for all the participants using alternating polarity 500 Hz tone bursts stimuli.Statistical Analysis:To calculate mean and standard deviation for all the groups, descriptive statistics was used and for group comparisons Independent t-test, Analysis of Variance, and Mann–Whitney U test were used.Results:The oVEMP of professional drivers exhibited significant delay in peak latency of N1 and P1 than those of non-professional drivers. Significant delay in P1 latency and reduced peak amplitudes were observed in professional drivers with greater than 10 years of experience on comparison with drivers less than 10 years of experience.Conclusions:Current study opens a new research in understanding the effect of over-stimulation of vestibular system in drivers. Driving for longer period may have effect on latency and amplitude parameters of oVEMP.

Influence of Vision on Drivers: A Pilot Study.

Background: Driving is the main mode of transportation in many countries, and visual safety depends largely on good visual health. The objective of this study is to analyze the visual health of Spanish drivers; as well as analyze the difference between professional and non-professional drivers. Methods: A visual screening was carried out in Spanish drivers from all over Spain, in which the following tests were performed: monocular visual acuity in distance and near vision, visual field, stereopsis, contrast sensitivity, intraocular pressure and balance test binocular. Subsequently, a questionnaire was carried out on the patient’s driving data and ocular antecedents. Results: 74.5% of the drivers used glasses to drive, of which 61.5% used progressive glasses. However, 39.4% reported having difficulties seeing well. The mean visual acuity in the distance and near was 0.93 ± 0.13 and 0.94 ± 0.13, respectively. Significant differences have been found in accident risk based on visual acuity (p < 0.001). But no significant differences have been found in terms of visual field, stereopsis, contrast sensitivity, binocular balance and intraocular pressure (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Vision appears to play a key role in driving and a good visual assessment is recommended for early detection of visual problems that may affect road safety. A study with a larger sample size would be necessary to confirm the results of this pilot study.

Organizational and personal factors in occupational traffic injuries at work in Spain

Objective Traffic crashes are one of the major causes of deaths at work. However, most of the literature on traffic crashes did not study the influence of worker and organization conditions. The current paper analyses the influence of the personal and organizational factors associated with the severity of occupational traffic crashes. Methods A total of 724,596 occupational traffic crashes that occurred in Spain from 2009 to 2019 were analyzed. Men suffered 59% of crashes registered, while workers younger than 30 represented 31.3% of crashes studied. Variables included in the Official Occupational Accident Report were analyzed using logistic regression calculating odds ratios. Results Results showed that a foreign, professional male driver from a small company who is older than 55 years was more likely to suffer a fatal crash. In contrast, a Spanish, nonprofessional female driver from a medium or big company who is younger than 30 years is more likely to suffer light consequences. Conclusions Findings from the current research could help to improve the safety training programmes in companies considering their personal and business variables such as age, gender, or company staff, especially in small companies. Future research should collect and analyze additional variables combining different data sources.

Examining the efficacy of improved traffic signs and markings at flashing-light-controlled grade crossings based on driving simulation and eye tracking systems

The majority of the collisions at grade crossings occurred at flashing-light-controlled grade crossings. Understanding drivers’ behaviors and visual performances in the process of approaching the crossings is the foundation of improving crossing safety. This study aims at utilizing driving simulation and eye tracking systems to investigate the efficacy of improved traffic signs and pavement markings (PSM) at flashing-light-controlled grade crossings. The improved signs and markings were modeled in a driving simulation system and tested with a series of flashing light trigger time (FLTT) ranging from 2 s to 6 s with 1 s interval increment. Foggy conditions and drivers’ genders and vocations were considered in experiment design. Thirty-six fully-licensed drivers between 30 and 48 years participated in the experiment. Several eye-movement and behavioral measures were adopted as reflections of the subjects’ performances, including the first fixation time on signs and signals and distance to stop line, total fixation duration, compliance rate, stop position, average speed at the stop line, maximum deceleration rate and brake response time. Results showed that compared with traditional grade crossings signs and pavement markings, drivers could perceive signs timelier and fixate on the flashing-light signal earlier in PSM, especially in the scenarios of earlier FLTTs. The improvement in fixation performance and sign design contributed to a higher stop compliance rate. Importantly, it was found that drivers would hesitate to decide whether to stop or cross facing with flashing red lights, which is similar to the dilemma zone of roadway intersections. Drivers were more likely to fall into the dilemma zones when FLTT was <4 s. When FLTT was 2 s, it was particularly difficult to stop in front of the stop line. Moreover, under a foggy condition, drivers had a difficulty in searching signs and had a longer brake response time compared with a clear condition. For the characteristics of drivers, male drivers had longer fixation duration on signs than females. Professional drivers had a higher maximum deceleration rate compared with non-professional drivers. Above findings implied that improved traffic signs and markings would have a potential to improve traffic safety and deserve a field implementation in the future.

Determinants of Sleepiness at Wheel and Missing Accidents in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Study ObjectivesMotor-vehicle crashes are frequent in untreated OSA patients but there is still uncertainty on prevalence as well as physiological or clinical determinants of sleepiness at the wheel (SW) in OSA patients. We assessed determinants of SW or sleepiness related near-miss car accident (NMA) in a group of non-professional drivers with OSA.MethodsA 237 consecutive, treatment-naïve PSG-diagnosed OSA patients (161 males, 53.1 ± 12.6 years) were enrolled. Self-reported SW was assessed by positive answer to the question, “Have you had episodes of falling asleep while driving or episodes of drowsiness at wheel that could interfere with your driving skill in the last year?” Occurrence of NMA in the last 3 years was also individually recorded. Habitual self-reported average sleep time was collected.ResultsSW was found in 41.3% of patients but one-quarter of patients with SW did not report excessive daytime sleepiness. Predictors of SW were the following subjective factors: Epworth sleepiness scale score (ESS-OR 1.26; IC 1.1–1.4; p < 0.0001), depressive symptoms (BDI-OR 1.2; IC 1.06–1.18; p < 0.0001) and level of risk exposure (annual mileage-OR 1.9; IC 1.15–3.1; p = 0.007). NMAs were reported by 9.7% of patients, but more frequently by SW+ than SW– (22.4% vs. 0.7%; χ2 31, p < 0.0001). The occurrence of NMAs was significantly associated to ESS, BDI, habitual sleep duration and ODI (R2 = 0.41).ConclusionSW is not predicted by severity of OSA. Evaluation of risk exposure, assessment of depressive symptoms, and reported NMA should be included in the clinical evaluation, particularly in patients with reduced habitual sleep time and severe nocturnal hypoxia.

Effectiveness of the compensatory strategy adopted by older drivers: Difference between professional and non-professional drivers

It has been a controversial issue for the effect of ageing population on driving safety. Apparently, drivers’ physiological and cognitive performances deteriorate with age. However, older drivers may compensate for the elevated risk by adjusting their behaviors, known as compensatory strategy. Despite the extensive research on this topic, the compensatory strategy of older professional drivers is not well understood since many studies focused on the differences in compensatory behavior between older and young drivers. Professional drivers tend to be more skillful and able to cope with the unfavorable driving environments, thus presenting a higher capability to mitigate the risk. This study attempts to examine the compensatory behavior and its safety effect amongst older professional drivers, as compared to those of older non-professional drivers, using the driving simulator approach. In the driving simulator experiment, participants were asked to follow a leading vehicle for one hour, and two sudden brake events were presented. 41 (mid-aged and older) drivers completed the driving tests. Each participant was required to complete a car-following test, either under high or low traffic flow conditions. Performance indicators include driving capability (i.e. lateral control, longitudinal control, and brake reaction time) and compensatory behavior (i.e. average speed, and time headway). Additionally, two modified traffic conflict measures: time exposed time-to-collision (TET) and time integrated time-to-collision (TIT) are applied to indicate the traffic conflict risk. The random parameter Tobit models were estimated to measure the association between conflict risk and driver attributes, and random intercept models were used to assess other driving performance indicators. Results show that despite the impaired lateral control performance and longer brake reaction time of older drivers, the likelihood of severe traffic conflict of older drivers is lower than that of mid-aged drivers. Furthermore, though both older professional and older non-professional drivers adopted longer time headway, the reduction in the risk of severe traffic conflict is more profound among the older professional drivers. Such findings suggest that older professional drivers are more capable of mitigating the possible collision risk by adopting the compensatory strategy, as compared to older non-professional drivers. This justifies the existence of compound effect by the compensatory strategy of older driver and better driving skills of professional driver. This research provides useful insights into driver training and management strategies for employers, as older drivers would become a major cohort in the transportation industry.

Reliability of the Turkish version of the European Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening (EUROSAS) questionnaire for drivers

PurposeThe European Union Driver License Committee recently developed a questionnaire as a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) named the European Obstructive Sleep Apnea Screening (EUROSAS) questionnaire for drivers. We sought to address the reliability of the Turkish version of this questionnaire.MethodsThe EUROSAS was translated into Turkish. Using a “test-retest approach”, data were collected twice with a 15-day interval among 150 participants (50 professional male drivers [PMD], 50 non-professional male drivers [NPMD], and 50 non-professional female drivers [NPFD]). The EUROSAS score ranges between 2 and 25, with scores ≥ 10 suggesting the presence of OSA.ResultsThe median EUROSAS scores in the first test were 8.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 6.8–12.0) in PMD, 8.0 (IQR 6.0–11.0) in NPMD, and 5.0 (IQR 4.0–8.0) in NPFD (p < 0.001). Corresponding values in the retest were 9.5 (IQR 7.0–13.0), 8.0 (IQR 6.0–10.0), and 5.0 (IQR 4.0–8.0), respectively (p < 0.001). The EUROSAS score ≥ 10 was found among 34% in the first test and 50% in the retest in PMD (ns), 34% vs 24% in NPMD (ns), and 8% vs 16% in NPFD (ns). There was a positive correlation between the tests (r = 0.864, p < 0.001), and Cronbach’s alpha value for the whole group was 0.477 (0.514 for PMD, 0.512 for NPMD, and 0.543 NPFD, respectively).ConclusionsThe EUROSAS–Turkish version is easy to understand and is reproducible. However, the test-retest reliability level is poor among the Turkish drivers. Further validation of the questionnaire by objective sleep studies and fitness-to-drive testing is necessary.

Driver's distracted behavior: The contribution of compensatory beliefs increases with higher perceived risk

Engaging in distractive behaviors while driving is common worldwide, despite its proven negative impact on driving safety. The current study aimed to investigate the ability of drivers' compensatory beliefs regarding distracted driving (i.e., the belief that the negative effects of an unsafe behavior can be “neutralized” by engaging in another safe behavior; e.g., “slowing down can compensate for the impact of driving distractions”) and drivers' risk perceptions to predict drivers' distracting behaviors. This study analyzed the self-reports of 304 non-professional drivers (186 males and 118 females) between the ages of 19 and 66 years. The revised questionnaires were proven reliable and valid for measuring drivers' compensatory beliefs regarding distractions, their distractive behaviors, and their perceived risk. Additionally, three components (i.e., mobile phone use, in-vehicle interactions, and mind wandering) were identified in the current study using factor analyses. The analysis of the relationships among the study variables showed that the drivers' compensatory beliefs regarding distractive behaviors were a core predictor of the drivers’ engagement in distracting behaviors, especially for behaviors with a higher perceived risk rating (e.g., mobile phone use).

Age-related differences in driving behaviors among non-professional drivers in Egypt.

This study aimed to investigate whether young and old non-professional drivers in South Egypt have aberrant driving behaviors compared with their middle-aged counterparts. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1764 non-professional drivers aged ≥ 19 years, residing in Beni-Suef in South Egypt, and having ≥ one year of driving experience were randomly selected. All drivers were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire, including personal information, driving habits, and the Arabic version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire which evaluates driving violations, errors, and lapses. This study included 560 young drivers (19-25 years), 850 middle-aged drivers (26-59 years), and 354 old drivers (≥ 60 years). Compared with middle-aged drivers, young drivers reported more non-use of the seatbelt, eating while driving, and driving while feeling drowsy. Old drivers, in contrast, showed more careful driving behaviors including fewer violations, errors, and lapses and less likelihood of driving while feeling sleepy. This study supports the conception that young drivers pose less careful driving habits. Initiating educational programs targeting young drivers to improve their driving habits and create a traffic safety culture in Egypt is highly warranted.

0136 Bright Light Could Be an Alternative to the Caffeine for Improving Driving Performance in Chronically Sleep-Deprived Young Drivers

Abstract Introduction Young drivers are over-involved in sleepiness-related crashes. Daytime and nighttime exposure to light might shift the human circadian phase and alertness. The alerting effects of bright light were compared with those of caffeine in young drivers. Methods In a within-subjects study, 30 chronically sleep-deprived non-professional drivers (aged 18–24 years) completed two simulated daytime driving sessions per day across three consecutive days. Participants completed the first drive under a Baseline condition (non-caffeinated gum, 555 nm light, 0.3 µW/cm²), and the second drive under the randomized conditions of Light (500 nm, 230 µW/cm²), Caffeine (100 mg caffeinated gum) or the combination of Light and Caffeine. Using mixed-effects models, the alerting effects of these conditions on objective sleepiness (ECG beat-to-beat intervals), driving performance (lateral lane variability) and subjective sleepiness (scores on the Karolinska sleepiness scale; KSS) were examined. Results Compared to the Baseline condition, lateral lane variability decreased under the Light (P=0.011), Caffeine (P=0.0001), and the combination of Light and Caffeine (P=0.046). Lateral lane variability was lower under Caffeine when compared with the Light (P=0.009) or the combination of Light and Caffeine (P= 0.0001). Average beat-to-beat intervals increased from the Baseline condition to the Light (P=0.017), Caffeine (P=0. 0.0001), and the combination of Light and Caffeine conditions (P=0.0001). All three conditions significantly reduced subjective sleepiness compared to the Baseline condition (KSS= 4–5 vs KSS=6, P= 0.0001). Conclusion Bright light, either alone or combined with caffeine, improves driving performance and subjective sleepiness during daytime drives. Light might better improve objective sleepiness and other sleepiness indicators during nighttime when drivers are sleepier and have an increased sensitivity to the light. Further research would clarify how the circadian effects are aligned with the alerting effects of the light. Bright light, as an alternative to or combined with caffeine, could reduce sleep-related crashes on the road. Support NA

What is the difference between perceived and actual risk ofdistracted driving? A field study on a real highway.

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.

Modelling braking behaviour and accident probability of drivers under increasing time pressure conditions

Drivers apply brakes to reduce the speed of a vehicle based on the perceived risk while approaching a certain event. Inadequate or excessive braking can lead to serious consequences. The current study analyses the braking behaviour and accident probability of the drivers under increasing time pressure conditions. Two perilous events (pedestrian crossing and obstacle overtaking) were designed to examine Brake Pedal Force (BPF) and Brake-To-Maximum Brake (BTMB) transition time on a driving simulator. Eighty-five Indian licensed drivers drove the simulator in three different time pressure conditions: No Time Pressure (NTP) (baseline), Low Time Pressure (LTP), and High Time Pressure (HTP). Random parameters Tobit model was used for analysing BPF and duration analysis approach was considered for BTMB analysis. Further, generalized linear mixed model with logit link function was used to study the effect of BPF and BTMB on accident probability of the drivers. The model results showed that gender, driving profession, approach speed, age, driving history, and driving condition significantly affected braking behaviour of the drivers. It was observed that in pedestrian crossing event, LTP and HTP driving conditions resulted in 42.31 % and 87.28 % increase in BPF and 13 % and 23 % reduction in BTMB respectively with respect to NTP driving condition and the corresponding changes were slightly lower in case of obstacle overtaking event. The accident probability model showed that female drivers needed 119.70 % and 186.08 % more BPF and 37.55 % and 58.51 % less BTMB in LTP and HTP driving conditions respectively to have equivalent risk levels as observed for male drivers. Further, non-professional drivers had to increase their BPF by 166.83 % in LTP and 219.93 % in HTP to offset their increased accident risk as compared to professional drivers under time pressure conditions.

Safety of professional drivers in an ageing society – A driving simulator study

Of the road crashes involving personal injury in Hong Kong, over 70% involved at least one commercial vehicle. Besides, the proportion of older drivers in the transport sector has been increasing due to the shortage of labor and ageing population. It is believed that increase in age can have adverse impact on driving performance, even that professional drivers may possess better driving skill than non-professional drivers and the age-related impairment can be offset by task familiarity of professional drivers. In this paper, a driving simulator experiment was conducted to address this question. Additionally, possible factors that affect the driving performance of professional drivers and that of non-professional drivers were examined. A total of 50 participants were recruited and 94 tests were completed. Driving performance was assessed in terms of standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP), standard deviation of heading error (SDHE), mean heading error (MeanHE) and standard deviation of speed (SDspeed). Results of random intercept models indicate that lateral and speed control performances of mid-aged drivers were better than those of older drivers. Then, disaggregated models were established for professional and non-professional drivers respectively based on the results of market segmentation analysis. It was found that lateral and speed control performance of mid-aged professional drivers were better than that of older professional drivers. In contrast, older non-professional drivers were more likely to have degraded steering performance under the high traffic condition. Results of this study are indicative to the driver management strategies of the transport operators for sustained safety improvement of commercial vehicle fleet.

How Distinct Are the Inattention Among Professional and Non-Professional Drivers?

How Distinct Are the Inattention Among Professional and Non-Professional Drivers?

Driving behavior and road traffic crashes among professional and nonprofessional drivers in South Egypt

Egypt has one of the highest traffic crash rates in the world. This study aims to investigate the correlates with driving behaviors and road traffic crashes (RTCs) among professional and nonprofessional drivers in South Egypt. A total of 518 drivers (203 professional and 315 nonprofessional) were interviewed and their sociodemographic characteristics, driving habits, and RTC involvement during the preceding 2 years were documented. The Arabic version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) was used to assess drivers’ lapses, errors, and violations. The results showed that professional drivers had more lapses (OR 3.03, 95% CI 1.54–5.96), errors (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.44–5.76), and violations (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.05–3.97) compared to nonprofessional drivers and female drivers were more likely to lapse than males (OR 3.18, 95% CI 1.79–5.66). RTC involvement was associated with female sex (OR 3.27, 95% CI 1.56–6.86), age < 30 years (OR 2.31, 95% CI 1.20–4.44), illiteracy (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.02–2.23), eating while driving (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.43–4.06), and not using seatbelt (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.06–3.37). Driving lapses, errors, and violations did not significantly increase the risk of RTCs.

Driving under the influence of alcohol and the effects of alcohol prohibition—Case study in Serbia

Objective: The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the prevalence of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) according to day of the week, specific roads (urban/rural), daytime or nighttime, and vehicle category. In addition, this study examines how the prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in shops and supermarkets (not in restaurants) after 10 p.m. has affected the prevalence of DUI.Method: Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) was collected from all drivers through police checkpoints at 54 locations in Serbia. In this study, 17,945 drivers were tested in urban areas and 19,507 in rural areas. The relationship between DUI during the prohibition on alcohol sales in Belgrade and other large cities in Serbia was determined using logistic regression.Results: On average, every 100th driver in traffic in Serbia was DUI (0.99%). This study shows that the 0 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for motorcyclists does not have an influence on DUI. Moreover, motorcyclists represent the category with the highest share of DUI, with a statistically significantly larger difference compared to drivers of other vehicle categories. These results may be a consequence of the fact that a large number of drivers drive both motorcycles and other vehicle categories (cars or mopeds), so the different BAC limits for nonprofessional drivers may create confusion about the legal BAC limit.Conclusions: This study suggests that the required legal BAC limit for nonprofessional drivers should be the same. The prohibition of selling alcoholic drinks in Belgrade after 10 p.m. does not decrease the prevalence of DUI.

Driving Simulator Study: Eco-Driving Training System Based on Individual Characteristics

This research sought to establish an eco-driving training system based on a driving simulator. The eco-driving training system contained five modules: human machine interface, data management, scene management, mode management, and evaluation algorithm management. It was proposed to base the new eco-driving training system on drivers’ individual characteristics. This system first asked drivers to conduct a diagnostic drive on a stretch of roadway in a driving simulator. The data on each driver’s non-ecological driving behaviors under different events were collected. Then each driver was given a customized training course based on an evaluation of his/her driving behaviors during the diagnostic drive. This training process is called eco-driving training based on individual characteristics (EDTIC). Eighty taxi drivers were recruited and divided into two groups for eco-driving training. One group was trained by watching videos, and the other was trained by the EDTIC training. An analysis of results shows that the EDTIC training was significantly more effective than traditional video training. Under the EDTIC training, all driving behaviors improved and emissions and fuel consumption were greatly reduced; the reduction was as great as 8.3–8.4%. The EDTIC training was proven effective at improving the eco-driving behavior of taxi drivers (i.e., professional drivers), and it could also be employed to train other professional drivers (bus and truck drivers) and non-professional drivers.

Effect of Semantic Priming for Wide Attention Focus on Visuomotor Decision-making Task in Young and Older Non-professional Drivers

Effect of Semantic Priming for Wide Attention Focus on Visuomotor Decision-making Task in Young and Older Non-professional Drivers

Dynamic set point model for driver alert state using digital image processing

The driver fatigue and lose of attention while driving are the most important causes of traffic accidents. Each year more than one million of deaths occur due to these facts. Thus, this problem has been converted into a serious social issue with high impact not only in economic terms, but also in the public health sector all around the world. Several approaches based on computer vision systems have been proposed to deal with this severe situation, but none of them have fully considered the non-fatigue state as a primary knowledge to detect an unusual event of a person while driving. In fact, typical approaches to deal with the problem of fatigue detection, are based on the analysis of behavioral features extracted with digital image processing such as frequency of blinking, yawning, among others. However, the huge limitation is the short interval of time between each analysis, that generally is few frames per second. Furthermore, all available methods are focus in modeling the fatigue, instead of representing the set point alert state of the driver, which is the main core of the proposed strategy. Hence, in this paper a dynamic set point model for alert state while driving using digital image processing and machine learning techniques is presented. The approach uses an embedded system build with a Raspberry prototyping board and a USB HD camera. Raspbian operative system controls OPEN CV libraries written in Python to detect face parts with an algorithm running Harr descriptors. The features extracted were the position and orientation of the head throw several minutes. Then, a mixture of Gaussians model with its learning and updating stages is used to represent the behaviour of features. Also, a dataset was built considering professional and non-professional drivers under two main scenarios: real and simulated conditions. Experimental results show the viability of the method for posterior analysis of unusual events while driving like fatigue detection, cellphone call or chat detection, or any other distraction not related to the driving process.

Collision risk management of cognitively distracted drivers in a car-following situation

Mobile phone distraction has been recognized as an adverse factor that degrades drivers’ performance on road. Although research showed that drivers take various compensatory strategies to minimize the risk in distracted driving, little consensus has been achieved regarding the actual change in collision risk because of compensatory behaviours. This study aims to investigate the impact of mobile phone use and drivers’ compensatory behaviours on the collision risk in a car-following situation. By using a high-fidelity driving simulator, 37 participants completed the simulation experiment in three mobile phone use conditions: no phone (baseline), hands-free and hand-held. Cluster analysis was adopted to classify the final collision risk into different levels. Two logit regression models were developed to examine the relationships between drivers’ characteristics, mobile phone use, collision avoidance performances and their involvement in the collision risk. Results show that compared to no phone and hands-free, drivers using hand-held phone had a longer brake reaction time and also an increased likelihood of being involved in a high risk group. Drivers compensated to reduce the likelihood of safety-critical events through a simultaneous control of car-following speed and distance (i.e. Time-to-collision (TTC)) in distracted condition. Additionally, the results also indicated that female drivers and non-professional drivers were more likely to be involved in high risk group than male drivers and professional drivers. The study provided a systematic method to quantify the impact of mobile phone distraction and drivers’ compensation behaviors on collision risk. The effectiveness of compensatory strategy by controlling TTC also shed light on the development of intelligent transport systems to help distracted drivers avoid safety-critical situations.