Is official information about distracted driving enough? A critical investigation of Government-provided information and road rules in Australia

Empirical data demonstrates that distracted driving is a leading cause of crashes even in countries with sophisticated road safety systems. As such, a paradigm shift is needed to prevent driver distraction. This study aims to contribute to this paradigm shift by critically investigating the official distraction-related information and road...

Road rule enforcement and where to find it: An investigation of applications used to avoid detection when violating traffic rules

Introduction: One of the primary countermeasures in place to prevent road rule violations is legal enforcement, yet there are numerous applications that can undermine such efforts by notifying drivers of enforcement locations. However, the capabilities of these applications and how they can impact offending behavior is currently unknown. Method:...

How should external human-machine interfaces behave? Examining the effects of colour, position, message, activation distance, vehicle yielding, and visual distraction among 1,434 participants

External human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) may be useful for communicating the intention of an automated vehicle (AV) to a pedestrian, but it is unclear which eHMI design is most effective. In a crowdsourced experiment, we examined the effects of (1) colour (red, green, cyan), (2) position (roof, bumper, windshield), (3) message (WALK, DON'T...

Analysis of driver behaviour through smartphone data: The case of mobile phone use while driving

The aim of this paper is to explore driving behaviour during mobile phone use on the basis of detailed driving analytics collected by smartphone sensors. The data came from a sample of one hundred drivers (18,850 trips) during a naturalistic driving experiment over four months. A specially developed smartphone application was used, through...

Impact of distracting activities and drivers’ cognitive failures on driving performance

The rapid increase in the availability of smartphones and other infotainment devices, and their widespread use while driving, contributes significantly to car crash rates. Understanding of the impact of distracting activities on drivers’ behavior is essential in order to support the development of effective technology and policy solutions to...