Safety driver’s capability to act - a pilot study with focus on driver alertness/attention

Purpose and goal

The purpose of this study is to study the safety driver´s work environment and in particular opportunities to act in the automated vehicle in a way that is safe for passengers and surrounding road users, with a focus on alertness and attention. The results will be useful to ensure that safety drivers are given the right conditions before work shifts and during work shifts, but also to develop guidelines for how future support systems can be developed so that the interaction between driver and vehicle in critical situations becomes safe.

Expected results and effects

The results show no reduced alertness or attention during a work shift. However, one driver showed signs of sleepiness. A result that is not surprising as there are often individual differences. Drivers do not have the attention where they are expected to have it, especially backwards, but also to the right and left. Whether it affects the ability to intervene can not be determined. Unpredictable decelerations contribute to the drivers´ shift in attention. In the bus where a screen shows what is detected, the driver attention was redirected towards the screen instead of at relevant areas.

Planned approach and implementation

The study was conducted in Linköping in the mobility arena "Ride the future". A total of 8 drivers participated. The study was exploratory and the drivers have not been manipulated. The data collected include normal operation during afternoon shifts first and last hour sessions. Anova was used to analyse sleepiness using self-reported sleepiness (KSS) and blink measures (blink duration and long flashes) as well as heart rate-based measures (heart rate variability). Furthermore, drivers´ eye movements have been identified to describe how they search the surroundings while driving.