Where You Look During Automation Influences Where You Steer After Take-Over

When driving a vehicle, gaze direction (where the driver is looking) is tightly coupled with steering actions. For example, previous research has shown that gaze direction directly influences steering behavior. In the context of transitions of control from automated to manual driving, a new question arises: Does gaze direction before a transition influence the manual steering after it? Here we addressed this question in a simplified simulated driving scenario, for maximum experimental control. Participants (N=26) were driven around a constant curvature bend by an automated vehicle, which gradually drifted toward the outside of the bend. An auditory tone cued manual take-over of steering control and participants were required to correct the drift and return to the lane center. Gaze direction was controlled using an onscreen fixation point with a position that varied from trial to trial horizontally and/or vertically. The results showed that steering during manual control was systematically biased by gaze direction during the automated period, but notably in the opposite direction to what might have been expected based on previous research. Whilst further research is needed to understand the causal mechanisms, these findings do suggest that where a driver looks during the seconds preceding a transition to manual control may be critical in determining whether the subsequent steering actions are successful