Training on ADAS: Developing Effective Training that Drivers Will Use

Introduction

Emerging vehicle technologies have the potential to increase driver comfort as well as improve safety. Safety benefits will only be realized, however, if drivers have a proper understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the technology. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety is working cooperatively with the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute to identify the most promising approaches to providing key safety information to drivers about advanced driver assistance systems.

Project Goals and Plan

The goal of this project is to determine how best to design and deploy brief educational materials to introduce drivers to the partial driving automation technology in their vehicles in a way that maximizes the likelihood of driver engagement and effective learning. This project consists of two main phases.

Phase 1 will involve gathering information through a review of literature and expert workshop with input from domains of traffic safety, human factors, as well as instructional design. The team will then develop initial draft training modules, which will be assessed qualitatively and refined through approaches such as semi-structured interviews and focus groups.

Phase 2 will involve an on-road evaluation of the training modules. Participants will be given the training modules developed in Phase 1 to learn about the technology in a vehicle that they will then drive on the road. Their engagement with the training module will be observed, and their interaction with the technology, driving behavior, and performance during several hours of on-road driving will be compared with that of a control group not given the training materials.