THE EFFECTS OF FORWARD VISION RESTRICTION ON AUTOMOBILE DRIVER POSTURE

This paper describes a simulator study that investigated the effects of the height of the top of the instrument panel (IP) on driving posture. Eight midsize men and 8 small women drove an interactive simulator with a large-screen display under 5 various IP-height conditions. The 3-D locations of body landmarks were recorded to characterize their driving postures. A confirmatory study of 32 men and women was conducted in which subjects drove a sport-utility vehicle over a 15-min road route with and without a mask that restricted part of the windshield above the IP. These restrictions on forward vision had only small effects on driving posture. In the driving simulator, an increase in IP height of 150 mm caused drivers to sit up with their hips an average of 7 mm farther forward with a hip-to-eye angle that was 1deg more upright. No significant differences were found in postural response between the small female and midsize male subjects. In the vehicle, no significant effects of the windshield mask on posture were observed. Findings show that the vision restriction imposed by the IP is unlikely to have an important effect on driving posture over the range of restriction that is reasonable for production vehicles and that predictive models of driving posture do not need to include the effects of IP height when the driver is not provided with a seat height adjustment.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/10939741
• Corporate Authors:

  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Incorporated

  10 Industrial Avenue
  Mahwah, NJ  United States  07430-2262
• Authors:
  • Reed, Matthew P
  • Manary, M A
  • Schneider, L W
• Publication Date: 2000

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 173-189
• Serial:
  • Transportation Human Factors
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 1093-9741

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automobile drivers; Automobile driving; Driving simulators; Highway safety; Highway transportation; Human factors; Instrument panels; Posture; Visibility; Visual perception
• Uncontrolled Terms: Driver position; Forward vision restriction (automobile drivers)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00800419
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, ATRI
• Created Date: Oct 19 2000 12:00AM