Objective

To measure the looming threshold for when drivers perceive closing and an immediate hazard and determine what factors affect these thresholds.

Background

Rear-end collisions are a common type of crash. One key issue is determining when drivers first perceive they need to react. The looming threshold for closing and an immediate hazard are critical perceptual thresholds that reflect when drivers perceive they need to react.

Method

Two driving simulator experiments examined whether engaging in a cell phone conversation and whether the complexity of the roadway environment affect these thresholds for the perception of closing and immediate hazard. Half of the participants engaged in a cognitive task, the last letter task, to emulate a cell phone conversation, and all participants experienced both simple and complex roadway environments.

Results

Drivers perceived an immediate hazard later when engaged in a cell phone conversation than when not engaged in a conversation but only when the driving task was relatively less demanding (e.g., simple roadway, slow closing velocity). Compared to simple scenes, drivers perceived closing and an immediate hazard later for complex scenes but only when closing velocity was 30 mph (48.28 km/h) or greater.

Conclusion

Cell phone conversation can affect when drivers perceive an immediate hazard when the roadway is less demanding. Roadway complexity can affect when drivers perceive closing and an immediate hazard when closing velocity is high.

Application

Results can aid accident analysis cases and the design of driving automation systems by suggesting when a typical driver would respond.

中文翻译：

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影响驾驶员对关闭和直接危险的感知的因素

客观的

测量驾驶员感知关闭和直接危险时的迫在眉睫的阈值，并确定影响这些阈值的因素。

背景

追尾碰撞是一种常见的碰撞类型。一个关键问题是确定驾驶员何时首先意识到他们需要做出反应。迫在眉睫的关闭阈值和直接危险是关键的感知阈值，反映了驾驶员何时认为他们需要做出反应。

方法

两个驾驶模拟器实验检查​​了是否进行手机通话以及道路环境的复杂性是否影响这些感知接近和直接危险的阈值。一半的参与者参与了一项认知任务，即最后一个字母任务，以模拟手机对话，所有参与者都经历了简单和复杂的道路环境。

结果

与不进行通话相比，驾驶员在进行手机通话时更晚察觉到直接危险，但仅当驾驶任务要求相对较低时（例如，简单的道路，缓慢的接近速度）。与简单场景相比，对于复杂场景，驾驶员稍后会感知到关闭和直接危险，但仅限于关闭速度为 30 英里/小时（48.28 公里/小时）或更高时。

结论

当道路要求不高时，手机通话会影响驾驶员何时察觉到直接危险。道路的复杂性会影响驾驶员何时察觉到接近以及接近速度高时的直接危险。

应用

结果可以通过建议典型驾驶员何时响应来帮助事故分析案例和驾驶自动化系统的设计。