A systematic literature review of driver behaviour in blind spot: Assessing risk and influencing factors for enhanced ergonomics in vehicle design

Abstract

Risk associated with vehicle blind spot is a critical concern for road traffic safety that poses a serious threat to drivers as well as vulnerable road users. While driving on the road, it is necessary for drivers to check their mirrors before attempting lane changing, overtaking, turning, or any kind of manoeuvring pattern. But still, there remains some areas around the vehicle that are not visible to driver’s peripheral vision even through checking mirrors, known as vehicle blind spots. In this systematic literature, an overview of the blind spot of vehicles along with the associated risks are explained thoroughly by emphasising its importance by focusing on safety aspects. The considered factors included size and visibility of blind spot, demographic factors that influence drivers’ awareness and behaviour in blind spot; vehicle characteristics associated with design of different components, and also the efficacy of mirrors in enhancing visibility of blind spots. A quick and concise summary of the literature is highlighted in the current review, and finally, some future directions are proposed to not only help the researchers for a better understanding of blind spot-related driver behavioural issues but also benefit the automotive industry and policymakers to make roads safer.

PRACTITIONER SUMMARY

Insightful information on enhancing drivers’ awareness while driving and affecting factors associated with the risk due to blind spot are explored comprehensively. Conducting this systematic review will not only help the researchers but also benefit the automotive industry and policymakers in developing better vehicle design and advanced road safety policy, respectively.

Keywords:

• Blind spot
• mirrors
• driver behaviour
• risks
• literature review

Ethical approval statement

We hereby affirm that the current study, entitled ‘A systematic literature review of driver behaviour in blind spot: Assessing risk and influencing factors for enhanced ergonomics in vehicle design’, does not involve any human or animal-related subjects directly. The study was designed exclusively for analysing existing literature, data, and information available publicly. Throughout the span of the study, no human subjects or animals were involved in any experiments, questionnaires, collecting information, or interventions. Since the study comes under the category of non-interventional research, no ethics approval was necessary from a local or institutional review board.

The Declaration of Helsinki’s guidelines for research involving human participants are followed in this study. Even though our research does not use human or animal subjects directly, we are still committed to ethical research practices, making sure that all references used in our work have been acknowledged appropriately, and systematic literature review was conducted with integrity and transparency.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.