Police Officer Interactions with In-vehicle Technologies: An On-Road Investigation

Abstract

Police motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of officers’ fatalities in line of duty. These crashes have been attributed not only to driving at high speed in emergency situations but more importantly to interaction with different in-vehicle technologies. Prior studies in this domain have been limited to specific equipment and short exposure time and were typically conducted in laboratory settings with simulated environment or tasks which limit their generalizability to actual police operations. The objective of this study was to identify the most frequently used and cognitively demanding in-vehicle technologies for police officers while driving. Ten officers participated in a three-hour ride-along study. Findings suggested that the mobile computer terminal is the most frequently used and visually and cognitively demanding in-vehicle technology for police officers. Other factors such as work shift, duration, and average time spent in the vehicle per shift can also affect workload. The results indicated the need for improvements in in-vehicle technology design and implementation, officer training protocols, and departmental policies in order to reduce officers’ mental workload and improve safety in police operations.