In the driving environment, competition exists between Driving Related Activities (DRAs) and Non-Driving Related Activities (NDRAs). This is a source of inattention and human error. Continual proliferation of in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) presents drivers with opportunities for distraction. Drivers simultaneously manage DRAs alongside unrelated but cognitively demanding NDRAs. Vehicle designers need ways of understanding human capability in such situations to provide solutions that accommodate these conflicting demands. This paper proposes a framework intended to address such challenges, rooted in the widely accepted construct of Situation Awareness (SA). However, SA theory does not presently accommodate disparate unrelated goal-driven tasks performed in parallel. This framework reconciles the present reality of drivers simultaneously devoting cognitive resources to attain SA for multiple activities by proposing a separate body of knowledge for each active goal. Additionally, the process of achieving SA is expanded to incorporate this concurrent development of separate bodies of goal-directed knowledge. The advantage of reconceptualising SA for driving allows consideration of interface design which minimises the impact of competing activities. The aim is a framework facilitating creation of IVIS that help drivers succeed in multi-goal multitasking situations. Implications of the proposed framework for theory, design and industry-driven automotive safety efforts are discussed.

The automobile is becoming more complex as vehicle technologies advance. As a result, driver awareness of internal and external aspects of the environment will influence performance for a range of activities. Inclusivity is an important aspect of vehicle design, especially as autonomous driving functionality increases. This paper examines how users of differing gender and age perform within the vehicle. A simulator study was carried out to assess performance on a range of tasks, whilst driving under different driving conditions. The results show that differences exist between males and females, and older and younger operators for a range of driving and non-driving measures. Older operators generated higher steering wheel variation than younger drivers in driving-only conditions, whilst older and female operators require more button presses and glances away from the road than younger and male operators. The implications relating to in-vehicle interface design are discussed.