The Effect of a Secondary Task on Drivers’ Gap Acceptance and Situational Awareness at Junctions

Robbins, Chloe J.; Rogers, James; Walton, Sophie; Allen, Harriet A.; Chapman, Peter

Abstract

The current studies explored the roles of the visuospatial and phonological working memory subsystems on drivers’ gap acceptance and memory for approaching vehicles at junctions. Drivers’ behaviour was measured in a high-fidelity driving simulator when at a junction, with, and without a visuospatial or phonological load. When asked to judge when to advance across the junction, gap acceptance thresholds, memory for vehicles and eye movements were not different when there was a secondary task compared to control. However, drivers’ secondary task performance was more impaired in the visuospatial than phonological domain. These findings suggest that drivers were able to accept impairment in the secondary task while maintaining appropriate safety margins and situational awareness. These findings can inform the development of in-car technologies, improving the safety of road users at junctions.

Citation

Robbins, C. J., Rogers, J., Walton, S., Allen, H. A., & Chapman, P. (2021). The Effect of a Secondary Task on Drivers’ Gap Acceptance and Situational Awareness at Junctions. Ergonomics, 64(2), 184-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2020.1822548

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 4, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Oct 5, 2020
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 6, 2021
• Journal: Ergonomics
• Print ISSN: 0014-0139
• Electronic ISSN: 1366-5847
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 184-198
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2020.1822548
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4918029
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00140139.2020.1822548