to Read Electronic Navigation Displays 6. Performing Organization Code

The ITS Research Center is supported by fees from industrial members and contracts from government agencies. Toyota was the primary sponsor for this project. This report covers the third of four experiments examining the time to read electronic maps while driving. Three factors were varied: (1) the number of streets displayed (12 street and 24 street maps), (2) the street label text size (10, 12, and 14 point), and (3) the time of day (day vs. night driving). Sixteen drivers (ages 18-30 and>65, both men and women) drove a test vehicle on public roads. Subjects were given three tasks while driving: (1) find the name of the street being driven, (2) find the name of a cross street ahead, and (3) find the location of a particular street on the map. The largest effect was age which increased task response times by 40 to 80%. Each additional labeled street increased the response time by 7 to 140 ms depending on the task (up to 30%). Using 14 point reduced response time by 200 ms (up to 10%). Subjective ratings by the drivers revealed uneasiness about their ability to drive safely when the task required more than 5 seconds to complete. To avoid thi