Effect of driving experience on drivers' decoding process of roadway interpersonal communication

Sixty-three participants (32 novice, 31 experienced drivers) evaluated meanings of road users' signals in 24 traffic situations such as blinkers, headlights, hazard lamps and hand gestures. The traffic scenes were projected with a slide projector in a laboratory. Confidence in answers was also evaluated by using a five-point scale. The signals were classified into three categories: Formal Device-based Signal (Formal Signal), Informal Device-based Signal (Informal Signal), and Informal Gesture-based Signal (Everyday Signal). The total comprehension scores demonstrated that experienced drivers could understand the signals better than novice drivers. There was a large difference in the comprehension scores for Informal Signal between experienced and novice drivers. Novice drivers could understand Formal Signal and Everyday Signal better than Informal Signal. Similar results were also obtained in the confidence scores. Experienced drivers were more confident in their answers than novice drivers. An effect of gender was found in the scores of confidence. The discussion focuses on how driver's skill in interpersonal communication on roads develops in real traffic situations.     

A comparison of visual ability and its importance awareness between novice and experienced drivers

The visual ability factors of peripheral perception, visual reaction and visual pursuit ability are important for safe driving. Thus, this study explored the influence of driving experience on these visual ability factors. Sixty-five drivers, including novice and experienced drivers, participated in this study. The visual ability levels of the three factors were measured by the Vienna Test System. In addition, driver's awareness of the three factors' importance for safe driving was measured by questionnaire items. Results showed that out of the three factors, drivers' peripheral perception ability was correlated significantly with their driving experience. Experienced drivers had higher peripheral perception ability than that of novice drivers. In addition, compared with novice drivers, experienced drivers believed that peripheral perception was more important whereas visual reaction was less important. It is suggested that higher attention should be paid to peripheral perception in driving training and novice drivers should increase their importance awareness for this factor.     

Using eye movements to evaluate a PC-based risk awareness and perception training program on a driving simulator

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of the effects of a PC-based training program on risk perception in a driving simulator. BACKGROUND: Novice drivers have a fatality rate some eight times higher than that of the most experienced group of drivers, primarily because of the novice driver's inability to predict ahead of time the risks that will appear in the roadway. Current driver education programs, at least those in the United States, do not emphasize the teaching of risk awareness skills to novice drivers. METHOD: A PC-based risk awareness and perception training program was developed and evaluated. The training involved using plan (top-down) views of 10 risky scenarios that helped novice drivers identify where potential risks were located and what information should be attended. Both the 24 trained novice drivers and 24 untrained novice drivers were evaluated on an advanced driving simulator. The eye movements of both groups of drivers were measured. The evaluation on the driving simulator included both scenarios used in the training and others not used in training. RESULTS: The set of trained novice drivers were almost twice as likely as untrained drivers to fixate appropriately either on the regions where potential risks might appear or on signs that warned of potentially risky situations ahead, both for the scenarios they had encountered in training and for novel scenarios. APPLICATION: The PC training program developed, which is portable and can be widely used, has great promise in improving risk perception for novice drivers on the road.     

Traffic sign symbol comprehension: a cross-cultural study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the comprehension levels of highway traffic sign symbols used in different countries, to identify underlying rules that affect comprehension levels, and recommend approaches to deal with the problem. The need for such an evaluation was based on today's travel culture where people are often licensed in one country and then drive—without any further training—in another country. We compared the comprehension levels of different traffic sign symbols in four countries with moderate to high levels of motorization: Canada, Finland, Israel, and Poland. Five different driver populations were sampled in each country: novice drivers, college students, tourists, problem drivers, and older drivers. There were large differences in comprehension among specific sign messages, different countries, and different driver populations. Signs were comprehended best when they were consistent with general ergonomic guidelines for display design as they relate to spatial compatibility, conceptual compatibility, physical representation, familiarity, and standardization. Illustrations of compliance with these principles and violations of these principles are presented, and their implication for traffic safety are discussed. Specific recommendations for sign design that is compliant with ergonomic principles, and for greater international cooperation in sign symbol design are made.     

Visual attention while driving: sequences of eye fixations made by experienced and novice drivers

Eye fixations were recorded while novice and experienced drivers drove along three types of roads (rural, suburban and dual-carriageway). An analysis of the content of those fixations was performed in order to identify differences in the scanpaths that can be associated with skill acquisition and that can indicate a sensitivity to road type. This analysis itemized the part of the visual scene that was inspected with each fixation, and identified what the driver looked at as a function of what they had looked at previously. Single-fixation, two-fixation, and three-fixation patterns of eye-movements were identified. Differences in sequences of fixations were found between novice and experienced drivers on the three types of roads, with experienced drivers showing greater sensitivity overall, and with some stereotypical transitions in the visual attention of the novices. A number of individual sequences were identified, including a roadway preview pattern (alternating fixations between near and far views of the road ahead), and patterns involving mirror inspections that varied according to the road type.     

The effects of two- or three-dimensional graphics on the problem-solving performance of experienced and novice decision makers

An experiment was performed to investigate the relationship between two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) graphs displayed on paper or computer and the problem-solving performance of experienced and novice managers. The effects of these variables on solution times, confidence in answers and effectiveness of solutions for a production management case were examined. It was predicted that experienced managers would engage in forward chaining as a problem-solving strategy, while novices would use backward chaining as a problem-solving technique (Larkin et al. 1980). Results indicated that solution times were faster for computer than for paper presentations of data, but no significant relationship between response times and dimensionality of graphs was found. Novice subjects produced more accurate answers using 2-D paper presentations of graphs, while experienced managers produced more accurate answers when provided with 3-D graphs on computer. Further, experienced and novice managers were more confident of their answers when provided 2-D graphs as decision aids than with any other mode of presentation. Verbal protocols and retrospective reports indicated that in solving the cases experienced managers engaged in forward chaining, backward chaining and means-ends analysis as problem-solving techniques more often than novices.     

Obituary. Ted Megaw

Within the theoretical framework of control motivation, the effect of transient motivational variations (extrinsic to driving) on decision making in a simulated driving task was investigated. Young male drivers (mean age= 20.5 years), who were either novices or more experienced, participated in two experiments. In the first study (n = 45), the participants firstly carried out a reasoning task, extrinsic to driving, in which they randomly either failed (high control motivation), succeeded (low control motivation) or made aesthetic judgments with no evaluation in terms of success or failure (control group). Later, the participants had to decide whether to modify the given speed of a same vehicle for 38 driving situations presented in slide form. These situations were sorted into four categories according to the presence or absence of other road users and the presence or absence of an intersection. Compared with the control group, the participants of the failure group decide to make more speed changes as a function of the categories of driving situations and choose to make greater decelerations. Success leads the novices to discriminate less between the different categories of driving situations when making speed changes. A second study (n = 60) assessed whether high control motivation systematically induces a safer decision. The same driving task as in the first study was introduced by an instruction which made salient a representation of driving as being either cooperative or competitive. Whatever the instruction, the same results were found with the more experienced drivers: previous failure induces greater deceleration than success does. The opposite is observed for novices when driving was presented as a competitive activity, especially for intersection situations with no visible users. This discussion presents the usefulness of control motivation for understanding the drivers' regulation of their motivational states (allocation of attentional resources) and their representation of risk.     

The effects of two- or three-dimensional graphics on the problem-solving performance of experienced and novice decision makers

Abstract

An experiment was performed to investigate the relationship between two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) graphs displayed on paper or computer and the problem-solving performance of experienced and novice managers. The effects of these variables on solution times, confidence in answers and effectiveness of solutions for a production management case were examined. It was predicted that experienced managers would engage in forward chaining as a problem-solving strategy, while novices would use backward chaining as a problem-solving technique (Larkin et al. 1980). Results indicated that solution times were faster for computer than for paper presentations of data, but no significant relationship between response times and dimensionality of graphs was found. Novice subjects produced more accurate answers using 2-D paper presentations of graphs, while experienced managers produced more accurate answers when provided with 3-D graphs on computer. Further, experienced and novice managers were more confident of their answers when provided 2-D graphs as decision aids than with any other mode of presentation. Verbal protocols and retrospective reports indicated that in solving the cases experienced managers engaged in forward chaining, backward chaining and means-ends analysis as problem-solving techniques more often than novices.     

Traffic sign symbol comprehension: a cross-cultural study

The objective of this study was to evaluate the comprehension levels of highway traffic sign symbols used in different countries, to identify underlying rules that affect comprehension levels, and recommend approaches to deal with the problem. The need for such an evaluation was based on today's travel culture where people are often licensed in one country and then drive--without any further training--in another country. We compared the comprehension levels of different traffic sign symbols in four countries with moderate to high levels of motorization: Canada, Finland, Israel, and Poland. Five different driver populations were sampled in each country: novice drivers, college students, tourists, problem drivers, and older drivers. There were large differences in comprehension among specific sign messages, different countries, and different driver populations. Signs were comprehended best when they were consistent with general ergonomic guidelines for display design as they relate to spatial compatibility, conceptual compatibility, physical representation, familiarity, and standardization. Illustrations of compliance with these principles and violations of these principles are presented, and their implication for traffic safety are discussed. Specific recommendations for sign design that is compliant with ergonomic principles, and for greater international cooperation in sign symbol design are made.     

Approaching and stopping behaviors to the intersections of aged drivers compared with young drivers

According to the many reports of the traffic accidents, the number of the accidents near the intersections was increased in the cases of the aged drivers. The purpose of the research was to measure the sensitivity of elder drivers through behavioral responses in approaching and stopping to the intersections and to obtain the difference of the responses for braking and stopping comparing with young drivers. In the field tests of real running on experimental proving ground, elder and young drivers were observed their driving behaviors in various conditions of approaching and stopping at intersections. Comparing the results of the elder with the young, the unstable driving behaviors were examined in elderly and they were apt to run fast in approaching the intersection and also stopping rapidly. The rates of deceleration change (Jerk) with braking operation were unstable and the driving behaviors were affected by the environments or conditions of the intersection. These driving performances should be interfered with the traffic flow and exposed to the risk of accidents. If the features of these aged driver's behaviors were clarified better, the more effective driving assistant systems for elderly could be developed based on characteristics of elderly driver's driving performances and their physical and psychological features of driving.     

Road traffic offending,stress, age,and accident history among male and female drivers

This paper draws on data gathered during a larger study of driving behaviour to explore possible connections between stress, offending against the traffic laws, and accident rates, and gives particular attention to comparisons between male and female drivers. Data were gathered from 422 drivers by a postal questionnaire, and further measures of stress were obtained during semi-structured interviews with a specially selected subset of 66 of them. Analyses of variance investigated links between offending rates, accident history, and up to seven measures of stress, taking age and gender into account. In the results accident history, although positively related to offending, played little part in links involving stress variables. The principal findings were that (a) stress, both on and off the road, was positively associated with offending among both male and female drivers, and (b) although females overall offended less than males, females experienced more stress than males whatever their level of offending. One possible interpretation of these results is suggested by the feminist literature, which could account for both the higher levels of stress and lower levels of offending found among women drivers. However, there is unlikely to be a clear-cut gender divide in offending-stress relationships, and some small groups of female drivers in the study behaved like male ones. It is suggested that people's driving reflects their lifestyles, and that women drivers' patterns of offending and stress will resemble those of male drivers to the extend that their lives and concerns are similar to men's. It is concluded that this proposition warrants further research.     

The relation between driving experience and recognition of road signs relative to their locations

OBJECTIVES: Examine how driving experience and expectations affect the ability of experienced drivers to identify traffic signs--specifically, no right turn (NRT) and no left turn (NLT) at intersections. BACKGROUND: Failure to heed signs is a frequent cause of accidents, and the authors focused on the contributions of experience and expectancy to sign identification. METHOD: Inexperienced and experienced drivers were connected to an eye tracker system and briefly exposed to various traffic scenes. Some of the pictures included an NRT sign at the expected location (on the right), and some included the same sign at an unexpected location (on the left). The same procedure was used with an NLT traffic sign. RESULTS: Experienced drivers identified traffic signs better than inexperienced drivers did when the signs were posted at the expected location but identified them worse than did inexperienced drivers when they were at unexpected locations. CONCLUSIONS: With experience, drivers' expectations regarding the expected location of traffic signs become so strong that violating these expectancies results in more identification errors among experienced drivers than among inexperienced drivers. To optimize experienced drivers' traffic sign identification, signs must be located in accordance with drivers' expectations--specifically, on the right side of the road. APPLICATIONS: When signs are misplaced, crashes can be caused by inappropriate placement rather than inappropriate driving. Highway designers should ensure that their design conforms to standards that shape experienced drivers' expectations.     

A review of: “Posture. Sitting,standing, chair design and exercise.” By D. ZACHARKOW. (Springfield,IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1988.) [Pp. xxi + 433.] US$49·75. ISBN 0-398-05418-5.

Drivers experiencing rush hour congestion were interviewed using cellular telephones to study stress and coping responses. Measures were taken of each driver's predisposition to stress (trait stress) as well as their reactions to the experience of either low or high traffic congestion (state stress). Two interviews were conducted during the trip when drivers experienced both low and high congestion conditions. Although state stress was greatest for all drivers experiencing the high congestion condition, a trait X situation interaction was obtained, indicating that stress levels were highest for high trait stress drivers experiencing the congested roadway. In terms of trait coping behaviours, participants indicated a preference for direct over indirect behaviours. A greater variety of direct and indirect behaviours were reported in high congestion. Reports of aggressive behaviours showed the greatest increase from low to high congestion. Comments on the use of cellular telephones in methodology are offered.     

Effects of experience and processing demands on visual information acquisition in drivers

This study investigated the differences between novices and experienced drivers in their distribution of visual attention under different levels of cognitive load imposed by different types of road, and as reflected in their visual search strategies. The task involved a 20-min drive on various roads while the drivers' eye movements were recorded. The measures taken included fixation durations, as an indicator of the time taken to assimilate fixated objects, and the variance of fixation co-ordinates to describe the spread of search in both the horizontal and vertical axes. Differences were found between novices and experienced drivers according to the type of road being driven. The results suggested that experienced drivers select visual strategies according to the complexity of the roadway, and that the strategies of novices are too inflexible to meet changing demands.     

A Review of:“The Remembering Self: Construction and Accuracy in the Self-narrative”, edited by ULRIC NEISSER and ROBYN FIVUSH,Cambridge University Press,New York (1994), pp. x + 301, £30.00, ISBN 0-521-43194-8

Driving is a task that requires the timely detection of critical events and relevant changes in traffic circumstances. Adaptation of speed and safety margins allows drivers to control the time available to react to potential hazards. One of the basic safety margins in driving is the time headway preserved with respect to cars ahead. To avoid rear-end collisions, drivers have to detect decelerations of lead cars. It can be assumed that fast or abrupt decelerations of the lead car are detected faster than slow or gradual decelerations. Moreover, expected decelerations are presumably detected faster than unexpected decelerations. Drivers' responses to rather abrupt and more gradual decelerations of the lead were investigated in a driving simulator. Situational traffic cues were used to manipulate the driver's expectations. Drivers adjusted the timing of their responses very well to the level of deceleration of the lead car. If cues in the environment indicated that the lead car was likely to decelerate, drivers reacted faster. Moreover, drivers increased their headway before the lead car actually started to decelerate, which can be considered an anticipatory response. In general, anticipation allows drivers to maintain their preferred headway and control time pressure in driving.     

Remote operation system for novice tractor drivers for situations where automatic driving is difficult

The development of automated tractors is anticipated to address the problem of a declining and aging agricultural labor force. However, there are numerous situations in which automatic driving is difficult in the field. We developed a remote operation system allowing novice tractor drivers to control a tractor remotely in situations where automatic driving is difficult and evaluated its performance on a real tractor in a field. Our challenge was to design a user interface (UI) that allows novices to comprehend the tractor's status and return the tractor situation where automatic operation is possible. The system's UI is inspired by popular video games. In experiments, even novice tractor drivers with little or no experience driving automobiles or playing video games could remotely control the tractor and till according to the goal line. In addition, the participants dealt with an invisible obstacle by viewing illustrations of the tractor sensor data. The designed UI's operation methods and operator attributes were analyzed. Through the experiment, the following facts were revealed. A method of operation that allows the analog stick to adhere to the mechanical guide results in smooth operation. In addition, the participant's preferred control method depends on his/her gaming experience. Thus, this study clarifies some of the specifications and design guidelines necessary for a novice-friendly remote UI for the remote operation of a tractor.     

An evaluation of a lane support system for bus rapid transit on narrow shoulders and the relation to bus driver mental workload

The use of dedicated bus shoulders is a key method for implementing bus rapid transit (BRT) in areas that do not have the space for additional infrastructure. However, the narrow width of the bus shoulder and the need to anticipate traffic hazards in the adjacent lane can both be significant stressors for bus drivers. Bus driver mental workload and stress in response to these conditions should be a significant concern both for operational safety and driver health.

This pilot study evaluated the potential stressors of traffic density and shoulder width in the context of an express BRT service in a large US metropolitan area. In addition, the study considered the potential role of a prototype lane support system (LSS) to support vehicle control within the narrow shoulder boundaries. Ten experienced bus drivers drove an actual route with an instrumented bus equipped with and without LSS. Self-reported effort was recorded along with performance measures of speed and position control relevant to mobility and safety objectives.

Bus drivers did note stressors in the BRT environment and the prototype LSS. However, the use of the shoulder during high-density traffic conditions did improve mobility. Moreover, the LSS did enhance safety on the shoulder when there was high-density traffic in the adjacent lane. However, there was no evidence that the LSS reduced bus driver workload while operating in the narrow shoulder. Future research should consider the impact of BRT operations and support systems on bus driver mental workload and stress, and support the deployment of such devices for bus operations on shoulders during high traffic volumes.     

Situation awareness assessment in critical driving situations at intersections by task and human error analysis

The rapid development of sensor and tracking technology enables deployment of new Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that support the driver not just on highways but in urban areas as well. Intersections particularly present critical traffic scenarios where almost 35% of accidents occur, partially due to the present lack of in‐depth research about human errors and their determinants. The first step in ergonomic design of ADAS is to identify the specific situations in which drivers require support. To contribute to identification of such spots, situation awareness of 20 drivers in four critical intersection scenarios was explored. The study was conducted in the fixed‐base driving simulator. The applied approach consisted of assessing drivers' expectations and mental workload and of comparing theoretically correct cognitive behavior to experimentally collected data. Intersection scenarios were divided into five segments, and for each segment a task analysis was made. The study has shown that the driving simulator environment can be successfully deployed to provoke and explore various driver errors. The results have revealed that, in scenarios in which information is objectively missing, the majority of errors happened because the drivers had inaccurate mental models of particular scenarios. To the contrary, in the complex scenario the major cause of accidents was information overload. Furthermore, the task analysis disclosed applicable areas of intersection assistance. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Managing emergencies and abnormal situations in air traffic control (part I): Taskwork strategies

A lot of research in Air Traffic Control (ATC) has focused on human errors in decision making whilst little attention has been paid to the cognitive strategies employed by controllers in managing abnormal situations. This study looks into cognitive strategies in taskwork that enable controllers to become resilient decision-makers. Two field studies were carried out where novice and experienced controllers were observed in simulator training in emergency and unusual scenarios. A prototype model of taskwork strategies in air traffic management was developed and its construct validity was tested in the context of the field studies. A companion study (part II), follows that investigates aspects of teamwork in the same field and contributes to the development of a generic model of Taskwork & Teamwork strategies in Emergencies in Air traffic Management (T²EAM). The final section addresses the difficulties experienced by novice controllers and explains taskwork strategies employed by experts to manage uncertainty and balance workload in simulator emergencies.     

What happens next? Predicting other road users' behaviour as a function of driving experience and processing time

Hazard perception is one of the most important facets of driving and if the appropriate diagnostic tool is used it can discriminate between novice and experienced drivers. In this study video clips of actual driving scenarios were shown to novice and experienced drivers. The clips were stopped just prior to hazard onset and either the screen went black or the final still image stayed on the screen. Participants were then asked five questions about what happened next. This variant of the hazard perception test allowed the influence of processing time to be included and the level of situation awareness to be measured. Experienced drivers significantly anticipated more correct hazardous outcomes than novice drivers when the screen went black. Novice drivers benefited from the extra processing time afforded by the image remaining on the screen and significantly anticipated more hazards when the image remained on the screen than when it went black. The findings indicate that when processing time is manipulated, hazard perception accuracy reveals experiential differences. These differences are discussed with reference to hazard perception and situation awareness. This research informs the current controversy over whether hazard perception is a good diagnostic tool for driving performance. It identifies potential confounds in previous work and demonstrates that experiential differences can be found if the appropriate tests are used. Further, it suggests improvements for new hazard perception tests.