Digital Signal Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 17
An Examination of Overtaking Judgments
Based on Limitations in the Human
Perceptual System: Implications for
the Design of Driver-Assistance Systems
Anand Tharanathan
Abstract Traffic accidents that occur during an overtakingmaneuver is aworldwide
problem. Such accidents lead to several injuries and fatalities each year. Similarly,
rear-end collisions also comprise a large proportion of accidents each year. However,
there is a high disparity in the number of studies that has examined the underlying
causes for the two types of accidents. Several studies have investigated driver
performance during a car-following task, which have in turn led to the development
of driver-assistance systems to avoid rear-end collisions. However, only few studies
have attempted to study judgments during an overtaking task, and even fewer studies
have investigated the perceptual demands on a driver during such a maneuver. Since
driving is primarily a visual task, in this paper, I conduct a detailed examination of an
overtaking task with an emphasis on the limitations in the human perceptual system.
Also, to better understand the complexity of an overtaking task, I compare and contrast
an overtaking task with a car-following task. As an implication for design, I address
certain disadvantages in using a typical forward-collision-avoidance-warning-system
(designed to avoid rear-end collision) to aid an overtakingmaneuver. Considering such
limitations, seven functional requirements have been described that are important to be
considered in the design of driver-assistance systems to support safe overtaking.
Finally, I propose a model for the design of driver-assistance systems that emphasizes
overcomingdrivers' perceptual limitations by enhancing the effectiveness of the visual
information that is available from the traffic environment.
Keywords Driver-assistance systems • Overtaking • Perceptual judgments
A. Tharanathan (
*
)
Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Visual Performance
Laboratory, Lubbock, TX, USA
Search WWH ::
Custom Search