The hypothesis that misperception of an automobile's centerline is related to pedal error was tested in eight late-model automobiles. Pedal error is described as hitting the accelerator pedal when instructed to depress the brake pedal. One hundred twenty-nine subjects participated in an experiment in which pedal errors and perceived centerline were measured in all eight automobiles. The results indicate that subjects misperceive the centerline of the automobile to be to the right of the actual centerline. Although 26 pedal errors were recorded, no relationship between pedal errors and misperceived centerline was found.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Battelle (1987). Unintended acceleration of 1978–1986 Audi 5000 cars with automatic transmissions. Columbus, Ohio: Author.
2.
Davies, B. T., and Watts, J. M., Jr. (1969). Preliminary investigations of movement time between brake and accelerator pedals in automobiles. Human Factors, 11, 407–410.
3.
Davies, B. T., and Watts, J. M., Jr. (1970). Further investigation of movement time between brake and accelerator pedal in automobiles. Human Factors, 12, 559–561.
4.
Morrison, R. W., Swope, J. G., and Halcomb, C. G. (1986). Movement time and brake pedal placement. Human Factors, 28, 241–246.
5.
Mortimer, R. (1986). From reaction time to automobile design: The validity of human factors measures. Human Factors Society Bulletin, 29(10), 4–5.
6.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (1986). Engineering analysis action report: Unintended acceleration, NHTSA closing report on G.M. (NHTSA Report EA 78–110). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
7.
Rogers, S. B., and Wierwille, W. W. (1988). The occurrence of accelerator and brake pedal actuation errors during simulated driving. Human Factors, 30, 71–81.
