Age Effects of Using Cellular Phone and Advanced Traveler Information Systems on Driving Behavior

• Main Authors: Hua-tan Weng, 翁華檀
• Other Authors: Tzai-zang Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/53134298277345929684

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 工業與資訊管理學系碩博士班 === 96 === With the rapid change of lifestyle, the issue of elder driving has been widely concerned. For the aged, physiological and mental declines limit their driving abilities and influence their driving safety. Although researchers have suggested that Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) may be a way of maintaining mobility and well-being in elder drivers, it may cause unexpected risks of accidents when performing more tasks. This study attempts to investigate the age effects of ATIS and cell phone use in driving on objective task performance and subjective driver workload. Further, it explores whether drivers in different age have different performance under various driving and communication tasks for limited mental resources. Finally, it provides implications into how people should balance driving and secondary tasks to maintain good driving performance. Thirty-two subjects of the old and the young participated in the study by a driving simulator. Task performance was measured in terms of time to collision (TTC) in the following task and subjective workload was measured using NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). Results showed a striking effect of age on driving behavior. For the subjects of the study with phone conversation, the analysis indicated that there might be more dangerous occurrence of collision, especially for elder subjects. Moreover, ATIS had no significant effects on both time to collision and mental workload ratings. That might be attributed to ignoring the system display and the anxiety of self-exposure. To conclude, this study may be of importance in explaining the driving behavior of different age groups with a better understanding of how drivers keep good driving performance and safety.