Investigating the Effect of Auditory-Verbal Task on Drivers' Situation Awareness and Brake Reaction Time in Bus Driving Simulator



Abbaszadeh M¹ ; Zakerian SA¹ ; Nasl Seraji J¹ ; Nahvi A² ; Niknejad M² ; Ashori MR² Show Affiliations
Source: Iran Occupational Health Published:2015

Abstract

Background and aims: Increasing use of cell phone while driving is actually part of a disturbing trend of technological impact on reducing the driver's attention. Using the phone during driving increases crash probability between 3 to 6.5 times. Cell phone may deviate drivers' attention of the driving and may lead to a reduction in driver's situation awareness. The present study investigated the impact of auditory-verbal task on driver's situation awareness and brake reaction time. Methods: For performing this study, 30 bus drivers drove in the bus driving simulator. Drivers' situational awareness was measured by situation awareness global assessment technique. Gold directed task analysis method was used to analyze driver's cognitive tasks. The simulator was automatically recorded braking reaction time of the subjects. Results: Results showed that all levels of drivers' situation awareness significantly reduced after auditory-verbal task (p<0.001). It also became clear that auditory-verbal task significantly increases the drivers' brake reaction time (p<0.001). Pearson correlation coefficients showed a significant negative correlation between levels 2 and 3, and total situation awareness and brake reaction time while performing auditory-verbal task (p<0.05). Conclusion: Overall, this study showed that auditory-verbal task while driving can be detrimental on situation awareness and performance. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Health Services. All rights reserved.