Evaluation of Heavy-Vehicle Crash Warning Interfaces

This document describes an evaluation of heavy-vehicle collision warning interfaces as it pertains to the auditory and visual components of a forward collision warning system. The results indicate that drivers receiving an imminent collision warning alert responded significantly quicker than drivers who did not receive an alert to a potential rear-end event. Moreover, the effects of muting other sources of in-cab audio were explored. Participants were able to perform as well or even better when the other audio sources were not muted as long as the alert was salient enough (15 dBA above in-cab noise level). If a visual component is issued as part of the alert in the instrument panel, the data suggests that it may be more effective if presented as an information component, not as the main alert component. This will assist drivers to look at the forward roadway as their first reaction instead of getting drawn to the visual component initially. Data also suggests the auditory component should be the main alerting component in order to elicit the drivers looking to the forward roadway as their first reaction. This result was found to be true in both truck-trailer combination units and motorcoaches. It should be noted that haptic alerts were not considered in this study.

• Record URL:
  http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NVS/Crash Avoidance/Technical Publications/2015/812191_EvalHeavyVehicleCrashWarnInterface.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

  Blacksburg, VA  United States 

  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Tidwell, Scott
  • Blanco, Myra
  • Trimble, Tammy
  • Atwood, Jon
  • Morgan, Justin F
• Publication Date: 2015-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 121p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash avoidance systems; Drivers; Evaluation; Heavy vehicles; Information display systems; Trucks; User interfaces (Computer science); Warning devices
• Subject Areas: Highways; Motor Carriers; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01581010
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: DOT HS 812 191
• Contract Numbers: DTNH22-11-D-00236/0003
• Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Nov 20 2015 5:12PM