A holistic approach for measuring driver distraction and inattention

The research about inattention and distraction is still struggling to answer all questions coming up from the automotive industry and politicians. A major reason for this is the partial approach in measuring driver inattention and distraction. Therefore a holistic approach with a reference model for driver distraction and inattention was developed. It includes under investigated fields like driver under-stimulation, individual driver traits and driving task. This leads into a holistic theoretical model on driver attention, inattention and distraction. Within this paper the new holistic approach to classify and judge the hazard potential of the driver-driving task-distraction (DDD) interrelation is described. The methodology includes all driver states from under-stimulation to over-stimulation considering factors to classify driver capability, driving tasks and tertiary tasks. In addition a holistic definition of distraction is given. Based on this definition a standardized rating scale was developed and validated which is based on empirical social research methods, driver cognitive workload models and empiric data. Based on the analysis of each variable out of the DDD interrelation a holistic approach is presented to calculate the hazard potential of this interrelation. Finally this approach is for the first time empirically reviewed within an initial driving simulator experiment. Results are presented and discussed in this paper as well