摘要: |
The main goal of this research was to utilize a driving simulator to measure the risks associated with three distractions that are routinely faced by the driving population: handheld phone conversation, texting, and front-seat passenger conversation. More specifically, the study achieved the following objectives: (1) conducted a thorough literature review on driver distraction and roadway safety, including the cause and extent of distraction associated with driving tasks; (2) identified a set of cognitive tasks that are believed to have the most impact on driver distraction; (3) established a set of performance measures for the type and level of distraction based on the driving behavior; (4) designed and conducted simulation experiments involving a sample of human subjects; (5) compared using appropriate statistical techniques the driving behavior of the human subjects with and without the identified distraction factors; and (6) analyzed the results and made conclusions. |