The Effects of Telematics on Driver Distraction

Abstract

This study used both cellular phones and analogue radio to measure driver distraction and workload in a low fidelity driving simulator. Thirty-four participants performed a simulated driving task while using either a cell phone or a radio in conjunction with a secondary task assessing their spare attentional capacity. The results showed that more lane deviations were made during the cell phone and radio tuning use than both of the pre-allocation and Post-allocation phases. The secondary task errors were also higher during both the cell phone and radio tuning allocation phase than the pre-allocation and post-allocation phases. These findings indicate the greater workload load levels associated with the use of telemetric devices. These findings have major implications for driver safety and telemetric systems design.