Driver distraction and inattention: What are they?

Dr Craig GordonAlcohol Advisory Council of New Zealandc.gordon@alac.org.nz

Presentation at AA Research Foundation Research Symposium, 5-6th September, 2011, Wellington, NZ

AcknowledgmentsDr Michael Regan (IFSTTAR, France)Charlene Hallett (Ph.D. Student, IFSTTAR, France)

Information presented based on:

Regan, M.A., Hallett, C., and Gordon, C. (2011). Driver distraction and driver inattention: Definition, relationship and taxonomy. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 43, pp. 1771-1781.

Gordon, C.P., and Regan, M.A. (2011). Driver distraction and inattention and their role in crashes and critical events. In Regan, M.A., Victor, T., and Lee, J.D., (Eds.), Driver distraction and inattention: Advances in research and countermeasures. England, UK: Ashgate (in preparation).

OutlineSome definitionsExamples of what studies includeSome themesPossible framework

*Views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily Government policy

Inattention“diminished attention to activities critical for

safe driving in the absence of a competing activity” (Lee et al, 2008)

“improper selection of information, either a lack of selection or the selection of irrelevant information” (Victor et al, 2008)

“when the driver’s mind has wandered from the driving task for some non-compelling reason” (Craft and Preslopsky, 2009)

Distraction“the diversion of attention away from activities

critical for safe driving towards a competing activity” (Lee et al, 2008)

“diversion of attention from driving, because driver is temporarily focusing on an object, person, task or event not related to driving” (Hedlund et al, 2005)

“because some event, activity, object or person within [or outside] his vehicle, compelled or induced the driver’s shifting of attention away from the driving task” (Treat, 1980)

NHTSA – GES, FARS, CDSInattention includes

Driver distraction ‘Looked but didn’t see’ incidents Fatigue Emotional conditions Physical conditions

Driver distraction Non-driving related secondary task activity, inside

or outside the vehicle Internal thought – daydreaming, ‘lost in thought’

NHTSA (2010), Stutts et al (2005)

In-depth crash studiesUse human error categories

Recognition error, decision error, performance error and non-performance error

Recognition error category Inattention –non-driving related internal thought only Driver distraction – inside and outside the vehicle,

non-driving secondary task activity Inadequate surveillance including ‘looked but didn’t

see’ Does not include fatigue or emotional conditions

Treat (1980); LTCCS Study; NMVCCS Study;Ascone, Lindsey & Varghese (2009)

In-depth crash studies (2)Inattention

interference from internal thought

Attentional competition interference between tasks relevant for driving

Distraction interference from secondary task non-driving

related activity

Hoel et al (2010)

Naturalistic observational studiesInattention

Secondary task activity (not necessary for performance of primary driving task)

Fatigued or drowsy driving Driver related inattention to the forward roadway

(i.e. checking speedometer, blind spots, mirrors, observing traffic during lane changes, looking for parking spots)

Non-specific eye glance away from the forward roadway

Dingus et al (2006); Klauer et al (2006)

International overviewDriver distraction practice in 16 countries

Most countries exclude fatigue or sleeping as distracted driving

4 countries include emotional distress/elation as distraction BUT 11 countries exclude emotional distress/elation as distracted driving (including NZ)

4 countries include emotional distress/elation as inattention

NHTSA (2010b)

Driver inattentionNarrowly defined as ‘internal thought’,orCovers many different elements that can

include: A lack of attention Insufficient attention Cursory attention Selection of irrelevant information Looking away from the forward roadway Secondary task activities i.e. distraction Drowsiness and other driver state

Driver distractionKey elements considered in defining distraction

Diversion of attention away from driving Diverted towards a competing activity, event, person,

object Can be inside or outside the vehicle Always involves non-driving related activity Some include driving-related activity Some exclude internal thought

Competing activity may compel or induce the driver to divert attention

Implicit or explicit assumption that safe driving is adversely affected

Regan, Hallett & Gordon (2011)

Possible Framework(Regan, Hallett and Gordon, 2011)

Driver inattention

“insufficient, or no attention, to activities critical for safe driving”

Broadly defined, consists of different types of inattention driver distraction is one form

Driver Inattention

Restricted

i.e. microsleeps,

change blindness

Misprioritised

i.e. focusing on aspect/s of driving

Neglected

i.e. does not attend to critical activity

Cursory

i.e. hurried or cursory scanning

Diverted (Distractio

n)

Possible Framework(Regan, Hallett and Gordon, 2011)

Driver diverted attention (Regan, Hallett and Gordon, 2011)

Driver diverted attention – akin to driver distraction

“The diversion of attention away from activities critical for safe driving toward a competing activity, which may result in insufficient or no attention to activities critical for safe driving”

Driver Diverted Attention (Regan, Hallett and Gordon, 2011)

Driver diverted attention

Non-driving related

i.e. competing secondary

task activity

includes internal thought

Driving-related

i.e. less-critical

competing activity

includes internal thought

The role of driver stateSome studies/definitions (but not all) include driver

state as inattentioni.e. Fatigue, emotional distress/elationQuestion over criteria for inclusion – what about other

driver states such as alcohol and drugs? On what basis are some driver states included but other driver states not?

In Regan et al model, treated as:Factors that give rise to different forms of inattention orFactors that influence the effects of different forms of

inattentionSpecific state related factors (i.e. microsleeps, eyes

closed) are included under restricted inattention

Key PointsDifferent opinions about what distraction and

inattention are and how they are defined

We propose (Regan, Hallett and Gordon)Inattention has many forms – distraction is one

of them, need to discuss what the other forms are

Our framework is part of the discussionNeed to separate out activity from driver stateAcknowledge current tools may not allow us to

measure some of the differences in the framework

ReferencesAscone, D., Lindsey, T., & Varghese, C. (2009). An examination of driver distraction as recorded in NHTSA databases. Traffic

Safety Facts Research Note DoT HS 811-216. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.Craft, R,H., & Preslopsky, B. (2009). Driver distraction and inattention in the USA large truck and national motor vehicle

crash causation studies. Paper presented at the First International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (28-29 September).

Dingus, T., et al. (2006). The 100-car naturalistic driving study, Phase II – Results of the 100-car field experiment. Report DoT HS 811-593. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.

Hedlund, J., Simpson, H., & Mayhew, D. (2005). International conference on distracting driving: Summary of proceedings and recommendations (2-5 October).

Hoel, J., Jaffard, M., & Van Elslande, P. (2010). Attentional competition between tasks and its implications. Paper presented at the European Conference on Human Centred Design for Intelligent Transport Systems (29-30 April).

Klauer, S., et al. (2006). The impact of driver inattention on near-crash/crash risk: An analysis using the 100-car naturalistic driving study data. Report DoT HS 810-594. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.

LTCCS Study. (2006). Large truck causation study: Codebook. U.S. Department of Transportation: Federal Motor Vehicle Carrier Safety Administration.

Lee, J.D., Young, K.L., & Regan, M.A. (2008). Defining driver distraction. In Regan, M.A., Lee. J.D., Young, K.L. (Eds.), Driver distraction: Theory, effects and mitigation. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.

NHTSA. (2010a). Distracted driving 2009. Traffic Safety Facts Research Note DoT HS 811-379. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.

NHTSA. (2010b). Overview of results from the international traffic safety data and analysis group survey on distracted driving data collection and reporting. Traffic Safety Facts Crash Stats. Report No. DOT HS 811-404. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.

NMVCCS. Study (2008). National motor vehicle crash causation survey: Report to Congress. Report No DoT HS 811-059. National Highway Traffic Safety Authority.

Stutts, J., et al. (2005). Guidance for implementation of the AASHTO strategic highway safety plan: Volume 14 – a guide for reducing crashes involving drowsy and distracted drivers. NCHRP Report No 500, Volume 14. Transportation Research Board.

Treat, J.R. (1980). A study of precrash factors involved in traffic accidents. The HSRI Review, 10(1).Victor, T.W., Engstrom, J., & Harbluk, J.L. (2008). Distraction assessment methods based on visual behaviour and event

detection. In Regan, M.A., Lee, J.D., Young, K.L. (Eds.), Driver distraction: Theory, effects and mitigation. CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group.