ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Evaluation of a Nighttime Directional Guidance System for Heavy Vehicles R ichard Hanowski, Ph.D. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Acknowledgements FMCSA funded- DRFH61-00P Tim Johnson was COTR Phil Roke served as COTR early in the project Paul Rau (NHTSA) provided technical input VTTI assistance from Miguel Perez, Seth Cross, Jon Hankey, Walt Wierwille, Andy Petersen, Rebecca Olson, Eryn Perry Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration U.S Department of Transportation

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 INTRODUCTION

Problem Over 3 million single vehicle roadway departures (SVRD) each year Result in 13,000 fatalities and an estimated $100 billion in damage Combination-unit trucks are involved in 31,000 SVRD crashes annually Out of the 4,847 fatal crashes in 1999 that involved a large truck, the number one driver-related factor was the driver’s failure to keep in the lane

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Potential Countermeasure Laser Guidance System (by Mr. Locke White) –2 fixed-point lasers (class 3A), positioned on either side of the vehicle –The laser device emits red “dots” ~ 7.26 m (25 ft) ahead on the pavement –Dots provide the driver with path prediction information; indicate the vehicle’s path should the driver maintain the current heading

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Driver’s View Simulated View

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Laser Schematic

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Research Objective The goal of this research was to collect data to investigate the effectiveness of this guidance device: –Determining the impact that a laser directional guidance system has on improving a driver’s ability to maintain directional control –Assessing the extent to which such a device would enhance or reduce driving performance, workload, and situation awareness –Determining the attitudes of truck drivers towards the device

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Cost Comparison Guidance ClassificationSystem typeCost Infrastructure-based Lateral Departure Warning Systems CSRS – Rumble Strips $217/km ($347/mile) Ferromagnetic markers $6875/km ($11,000/mile) Vehicle-based Lateral Departure Warning Systems SafeTRAC$40,000/truck Laser Guidance System $30/truck

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 METHOD

Overview To achieve the research objectives, an on-road empirical field study was conducted All experimental tasks required driving an instrumented 1997 Volvo, VN-series class 8 tractor with a m (48 ft) trailer The LG system’s effect on the commercial vehicle driver was measured by evaluating how the driver’s driving performance, workload, and situation awareness changed during exposure to the system

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Experimental Design Mixed factorial design with one between-subject variable (Driving Experience, experienced/ inexperienced) and one within-subject variable (Laser Guidance System Status, on/off) N=16 Experienced = > 5 yrs; Inexperienced = < 2 yrs The LG system’s presentation order was counter- balanced –The test route was divided into quarters of approximately km (60 miles) per quarter –Half of the subjects had the laser presentation order, on- off-on-off, while the other half had the opposite order, off- on-off-on

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Instrumented Truck

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 RESULTS

Investigate System Impact On… Lane Keeping Behavior Driving Performance Metrics Driver Acceptance and Opinions Sample of the results are presented; all findings included in final report

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Number of Lane Deviations Driver Experience Experienced drivers had less than half the number of deviations than inexperienced drivers (8.75 vs. 17.8) Experience X LG System Status When the system was on, number of lane deviations was reduced for inexperienced drivers (from to 15.5; 23.23% reduction) No reduction for experienced drivers

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Number of Lane Deviations ?2 yrs?5 yrs Driver Experience Laser Off Laser On

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Mean Headway LG Status X Driver Experience Consistent headway for experienced drivers when system on or off Less headway for novice drivers when system off Headway increased by 0.22 sec when system on for novice drivers (~21 ft at 65 mph) Unexpected safety benefit for novice drivers? Red dots act as extension of truck, or more cautious behavior due to increased cognitive load?

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Mean Headway ?2 yrs?5 yrs Driver Experience Laser Off Laser On

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 CONCLUSIONS

Conclusions Lane keeping improvement –23% reduction in lane deviations for novice –No reduction for experienced drivers –System may serve as useful training tool for novice drivers Negligible negative impact on driving performance –Possible reduction in SA with initial use –Unexpected benefit of increasing headway for novice drivers

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Conclusions Novice drivers derive most benefit –Are practical implications of this finding- most lane departure crashes occur with younger drivers (Wang & Knipling, 1994) –Novice drivers need help most Favorable driver opinion Cost effective countermeasure

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003 Next Steps System has cleared preliminary hurdles, further research warranted Look at driver’s re-design suggestions –Move dot location further out –Increase size of dots –Change color of dots (other than red- color of taillights) –Automatically deactivate under specified speed (e.g., 35 mph) where greatest likelihood of lasers path being crossed Need to assess driver behavior with long-term use (does long-term use introduce negative behaviors?) Other applications for message presentation location?

ITSA’s 13 th Annual Meeting- May 22, 2003