A BEHAVIOUR AND INTERACTION STUDY FOR ASSESSING SAFETY

The study examines the impact of a new electronic in-car navigation system on driver behaviour with special reference to road safety. A sample of 25 drivers was accompanied before, shortly after and 6 months after implementation of the device in their own cars. They were navigated by the system from the same sources to the same destinations in all three study phases. A modified version of the Vienna driving test was used to count driving errors, conflicts and exposition data. Shortly after the installation of the system, drivers behaved safer then before, but after they had got used to the system and could anticipate what the device would be going to propose, drivers fell back to their original behaviour patterns. So, no overall, long-term safety impacts could be demonstrated on the routine routes. In an additional study, 18 of the drivers were accompanied by the same observer in areas they did not know. The same data gathering logic was applied and situation-specific error rates for several driving manoeuvres were calculated. Results show no decrease in driving performance in comparison with the well-kno n areas with respect to error rates between the intersections. We interpret this finding as a gain in safety, because accident statistics prove, that driving in unknown areas is far more dangerous in terms of accident causation risks for strangers. Inside the intersections, error rates rose to the extent that we had expected from accident investigations compared to the routine routes. Here, no advantage could be drawn from using the navigation system. 1