Drivers and Passengers: Are the Perceptions of Braking Time the Same?

Abstract

Two experiments were performed to investigate how the driving situation is perceived differently as a driver versus a passenger. The first experiment utilized an “ideal” brake onset time identified by previous research and investigated differences in the perception of “safe” and “comfort” between drivers and passengers. Both drivers and passengers were presented with animations of a driving situation. The animations involved different rates of closure between the vehicle being driven and a lead vehicle, stopping distances (based on time and rate of closure), and whether or not the lead vehicle was moving or stopped. Results show that participants preferred the proposed “ideal” brake onset time more than other times for all rates of closure. Also noted were significant differences between the perceptions of drivers and passengers. The second experiment explored the same questions of comfort and safety when in a simulated driving situation. Unlike the first experiment, in this experiment the driver stopped the animation. The results from the second experiment confirm those found in the first experiment.