Ambient Temperature Effects on Driving

AbstractA lot of research has been done to identify and correlate effects of ambient temperature on human performance. But to measure human performance, up to this point, driving has not been considered yet. In this research, to measure driving performance, two critical parameters were evaluated viz. lateral position variability in the lane and speed variability. Data was recorded for three different ambient temperature ranges using the Data Acquisition System (DAS) and further analyzed with the help of SAS 9.3 statistical software. Three ambient temperature ranges used in this study were: 51-60°F (Low), 61-70°F (Medium) and 71-80°F (High). All other parameters which could affect driving performance like roadway, weather and light conditions, traffic, driver's age and experience etc. were kept as similar as possible or selected in a way so that they have less variability. All participants got all three treatments (Low, Medium & High) and the order of providing treatment (driving in the selected temperature) was balanced across all participants. The study did not find any significant lateral position variability within the lane for the three different ambient temperatures. However, this research found significant temperature effect on speed variability for high temperature (71-80°F) over low (51-60°F) and medium (61-70°F) temperatures