Auswirkungen von In-Vehicle Informationssystemen auf die Verkehrssicherheit Influence of In-Vehicle Information Systems on Road Safety Requirements (IVIS)

• Forschungsstelle: COST
• Projektnummer: C04.0198

Schlüsselwörter (Deutsch)

Invehicle-Information-Systems; Driver Behavior; Road Safety

Forschungsprogramme (Englisch)

COST-Action 352 - Influence of Modern in-Vehicle Information Systems on Road Safety Requirements

Kurzbeschreibung (Deutsch)

Bestimmung von Sicherheitsgewinnen und Sicherheitsdefiziten infolge von Veränderungen des individuellen Fahrverhaltens durch Einflüsse von In-Vehcle Informationssystemen auf den Fahrzeuglenker.

Partner und Internationale Organisationen (Englisch)

AT, CH, CZ, DE, FR, IE, IT, LT, NL, NO, PL, PT

Abstract (Englisch)

Background The most frequent and most important information for a safe and comfortable drive are received from the driver from the appearance of the roadside environment. Of late the drivers are confronted with new sources of information like auditory instructions or warnings from In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS). In the near future many passenger cars and transporters will be equipped with automatic warning systems for e.g. the speeding and headway distance. Thereby it can leads to overstraining of the driver due to workload from the information he must handle. In order to use the increasingly capacity of roadside environment better, complex traffic management systems were develop by traffic engineers. These include variable traffic signs with changeable display panels and special marks and signals for safety at road works. These contribute considerably to complexity of driving task and encroachment of attention. The Analysis of accidents in several countries shows an increasing number of accidents partly due to the use and abuse of mobile phones, GPS-Systems and DVD displays in vehicles. Research aim To estimate the influence of modern In-Vehicle Information Systems on road safety, driver behaviour studies on selected subjects of defined demographics groups have been performed under real traffic conditions. Therefore 20 younger (28 to 35 years old) and 20 elderly (60 to 65 years old) drivers has been recruit. Depending on the test arrangement, subjects have been driving on selected road sections either with or without the support of IVIS while continuous speed profiles and critical driving situations have been recorded. As experimental vehicle, a passenger car, equipped with route guidance system, standard FM radio and hands-free mobile phone was used. The vehicle also contains custom sensors and data logging capability. Through comparison of test drives with and without support of IVIS, possible differences in speed behaviour, headway distance behaviour, and driver workload shall be observed and assessed with regard to possible effects on road safety. In the traffic-psychological research the changes of workload have been ascertained and investigated. At the process of data collection, the external, independent experimental terms have to be excluded in order not to falsify the results. Within the research project an estimation of safety gains and safety deficits due to changes of individual driving behaviour causes by influences of In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) should be done. The central question of this research project is to recognize and assess the combined influences of certain IVIS on road safety requirements. With this a contribution to understand the influences of multiple information systems due to workload of drivers should be made. Results The investigation of the traffic engineering research project primary aims at evaluating the driving behaviour of subjects at drives with and without using IVIS and to ascertain the changes between the two states. The considered experiment shows as a consequence of using IVIS - regarding all subjects - only small differences in driving behaviour. No Significant changes of speed values as a result of using IVIS were found by the analysis of the entire test track, neither at urban road nor at freeway (compare figure shown below). Certainly it has shown that at the determined changes differences between the two age groups exists. So the younger subjects belongs at drives on the freeway with support of IVIS often to the gorup of fast drivers (speed value V85%) whereas mostly of the elderly subjects belongs to the group of slow drivers (speed value V15%). Surprisingly the driving behaviour for drives on the urban road shows converse tendencies. Here the elderly subjects mostly belong to the group of fast drivers when driving with support of IVIS. This behaviour belonged to the lack of knowledge in the traffic engineering report. As expected differences between the test tracks according to the influence of IVIS (Free-way with high speed level / urban road with low speed level) exist. So the differences at the freeway drive because of IVIS are ascertainable via speed values whereas at the urban road route the changes are noticeable because of the frequency of safety relevant events. The mentioned frequency of events at the urban road route reveals clearly differences between the two age groups. For the elderly subjects the frequency of safety relevant events has considerably increased during the drives with IVIS, whereas the speed behaviour remained unchanged. This result was distinctive at the urban road section where IVIS was used and the mobile phone call was taking place. In contrast to this mentioned fact an increase of events wasn't recognized among the younger subjects. At the freeway route the reverse results have been found. Here for elderly subjects the frequency of safety relevant events have been clearly reduced when they have been driving with support of IVIS. It is known from traffic psychological researches that elderly people can compensate deficits of capacity of reaction and level of attention because of their lifetime experience on road traffic (particularly the predictability of traffic situations). As the results show, the compensation ability has its limits. Beacuse of the ascertained changes in driving behaviour between states of with and without IVIS the effects of road safety have been quantify as follows: - Freeway Route Safety gains with high likelihood through IVIS The frequency of to short following distance will be reducing significantly by using IVIS. Because of the analysis safety gains are expected for elderly traveller. For this age group the frequency of safety relevant events will be clearly reduced. Safety gains with low likelihood through IVIS The frequency of traffic interactions with travellers can be reduced by using IVIS. Certain safety gains results from the homogenization of speed (both age groups) and through reducing the part of speeders (elderly travellers). Safety deficits with high likelihood through IVIS The frequency of significant higher average fast drivers increased clearly for younger drivers using IVIS compared to non using IVIS. Safety deficits with small likelihood through IVIS The frequency of directions given increased significant by using IVIS due to unclear spoken instructions of the route guidance system.This deficit mainly affects elderly travellers. Besides for this age group the average speeds have increased. - Urban road route Safety gains with high likelihood through IVIS The frequency of significant slower average speeds increased clearly for younger travellers using IVIS compared to not using IVIS. Safety gains with low likelihood through IVIS No evident Safety deficits with high likelihood through IVIS The frequency of safety relevant events considerable increased for elderly travellers using IVIS. Mainly for the urban road section where the mobile phone calls has taken place. Besides the frequency of significant higher average speeds increased clearly for this age gorup using IVIS compared to none using IVIS. Safety deficits with small likelihood through IVIS Certain safety deficits can occur due to a higher part of speeders if they were elderly travellers not using IVIS. By the uncertainties in the discussioin of the results the experimental design has to be considered. The omission of the original planed continuous measurement of headway distances occurs as a considerable detriment because the following behaviour was a certain Indies of road safety effects. The absence of calibration the data at a greater collective of drivers was a deficit of the experiment too. This would be theoretically possible if there were local measurement points at the regarded cross sections (induction loop detectors) and the operators of the measurement points would make the datasets available. Therefore the measured speed values of the single subjects could have classified for a higher sample size.

Datenbankreferenzen (Englisch)

Swiss Database: COST-DB of the State Secretariat for Education and Research Hallwylstrasse 4 CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland Tel. [phone] Swiss Project-Number: C04.0198