A METHODOLOGY TO EVALUATE DRIVER ACCEPTANCE

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A METHODOLOGY TO EVALUATE DRIVER ACCEPTANCE

• Transportation Research Board
• Annual Meeting
• January 15, 2002
• Mary Stearns
• Wassim Najm
• Linda Boyle
• Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

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Evaluation Goals forIntelligent Vehicle
Initiative (IVI)Crash Avoidance Systems (CAS)

• Understand safety benefits
• Determine driver acceptance
• Characterize performance and capability
• Assess deployment potential and price
• Address institutional and legal issues
• Determine driver acceptance
•  

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IVI

• Designing a technology to fit the perception,
  cognition, and behavior of the entire citizenry,
  in a safety critical function
• Drivers are provided with additional in-vehicle
  information, which might, unless carefully
  designed, compromisesafety and efficiency
• Human factors conditions become a dominant
  consideration in design and development
• IVI Business Plans, 1997,2000 

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Driver Acceptance depends on

• The degree to which drivers can use products
  successfully
• Perceived usefulness to the driver
• Potential for market acceptance, considering
  usability and product cost  
• NHTSA Strategic Plan 1997 
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Driver Acceptance Methodology

• Objectives express driver acceptance elements
• Sub-objectives specify objectives
• Measures to rate each sub-objective
• pre- and post-Field Operational Test (FOT)
  surveys
• FOT vehicle data, video clips
• focus groups
• controlled experimentation

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Driver Acceptance Objectives

• Ease of use
• Ease of learning
• Adaptation
• Desirability perceived value
• Affordability (Advocacy)

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Measures - Ease of Use

• Ready Usability
• How hard was it to use CAS controls?
• What was the Incidence of erroneous activation
  of controls?
• Support of individual variability
• Awareness of CAS state, operational thresholds
• Perceived demands on driver
• CAS use patterns
• Discriminability of alerts
• Reaction to false/nuisance alarms

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Measures - Ease of Learning

• Time to learn
• Utility of instructions, training
• Ability to retain knowledge of use
• Did you feel you could easily recall CAS
  operation?

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Measures - Adaptation

• Allocation of control inputs, in-vehicle
  activities
• Visual accommodation
• Drivers Opinion of ability to judge location of
  distant vehicles/objects
• Alertness
• Travel patterns
• Behavioral adaptation

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Measures - Desirability

• Perception of safety
• Willingness to drive in adverse conditions
• Driving skill enhancement
• Measures of vehicle control i.e., road position
  error
• Seamless system integration
• Reduced workload

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Measures - Affordability/Advocacy

• Willingness to endorse CAS
• Willing to recommend CAS use to family/friends?
• Interest in purchasing CAS
• Amount willing to pay
• Acceptance of CAS in rental vehicle

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Successful adoption of IVI CAS Technologies and
attainment of anticipated benefits requires
thatThere is a comprehensive understanding of
driver acceptance issues