DRIVER INFORMATION NEEDS

THE DRIVING TASK WAS ANALYZED TO DETERMINE THE NATURE AND INTERRELATIONSHIP OF THE SUBTASKS THE DRIVER PERFORMS AND THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO PERFORM THEM SAFELY AND EFFICIENTLY. DATA WERE DEVELOPED USING A MODIFIED INFORMATION-DECISION-ACTION TASK ANALYSIS METHOD APPLIED TO SEVERAL LONG DRIVING TRIPS. THE TASK ANALYSIS PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR CATEGORIZING THE VARIOUS COMPONENT DRIVING SUBTASKS, IDENTIFYING INFORMATION NEEDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUBTASKS AND THEIR PRESENT METHODS OF SATISFACTION, AND PROVIDING A STRUCTURE TO THE DRIVING TASK. DRIVING SUBTASKS WERE CATEGORIZED IN ACCORDANCE WITH INFORMATION-DECISION- ACTION COMPLEXITY AND ORDERED ALONG A CONTINUUM. THE SUBTASKS WERE FOUND TO FALL ALONG A HIERARCHICAL SCALE. VEHICLE CONTROL SUBTASKS SUCH AS STEERING AND SPEED CONTROL WERE ORDERED AT THE LOWEST LEVEL AND IDENTIFIED AS MICRO-PERFORMANCE (CONTROL). AT AN INTERMEDIATE LEVEL, SUBTASKS ASSOCIATED WITH RESPONSE TO ROAD AND TRAFFIC SITUATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED AS SITUATIONAL PERFORMANCE (GUIDANCE). THE HIGHEST LEVEL SUBTASKS, ENCOMPASSING TRIP PLANNING AND PREPARATION AND ROUTE FINDING, WERE IDENTIFIED AS MACRO-PERFORMANCE (NAVIGATION). PERFORMANCE OF SUBTASKS AT THE HIGH LEVEL OF THE HIERARCHY INVOLVES COMPONENT PERFORMANCE AT A LOWER LEVEL. DRIVERS SEARCH THE ENVIRONMENT FOR INFORMATION NEEDED TO PERFORM THE VARIOUS SUBTASKS AND SHIFT ATTENTION FROM ONE INFORMATION SOURCE TO ANOTHER BY A PROCESS OF LOAD-SHEDDING. WHEN LOAD-SHEDDING IS REQUIRED DUE TO THE DEMANDS OF THE DRIVING SITUATION ENCOUNTERED, INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH SUBTASKS RELATIVE TO THE SUBJECTIVE NEEDS OF THE DRIVER IS ATTENDED TO, AND OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES ARE SHED. /AUTHOR/

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  • Supplemental Notes:
    • Sponsored by Committee on Motorist Information Systems and presented at the 50th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
  • Authors:
    • Allen, T M
    • Lumenfeld, H
    • Alexander, G J
  • Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 102-115
  • Monograph Title: Traffic control and driver information
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00226192
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309019818
  • Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Mar 20 2000 12:00AM