The effects of focused attention training on the duration of novice drivers' glances inside the vehicle

Abstract

Several studies have documented that the failure of drivers to attend to the forward roadway for a period lasting longer than 2–3 s is a major cause of highway crashes. Moreover, several studies have demonstrated that novice drivers are more likely to glance away from the roadway than the experienced drivers for extended periods when attempting to do a task inside the vehicle. The present study examines the efficacy of a PC-based training programme (FOrward Concentration and Attention Learning, FOCAL) designed to teach novice drivers not to glance away forthese extended periods of time. A FOCAL-trained group was compared with a placebo-trained group in an on-road test, and the FOCAL-trained group made significantly fewer glances away from the roadway that were more than 2 s than the placebo-trained group. Other measures indicated an advantage for the FOCAL-trained group as well.

Statement of relevance: Distracted driving is increasingly a problem, as cell phones, navigation systems, and other in-vehicle devices are introduced into the cabin of the automobile. A training programme is described that has beentested on the open road and can reduce the behaviours that lead to crashes caused by the distracted driving.

Keywords:

• novice drivers
• attention
• training
• distraction
• eye movements
• field driving study

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the following persons for their assistance with various aspects of the study: Bill Ryan for his help in the programming of the FOCAL interface, Joe Usowski for help with video data reduction, and Don-Tre Driving School, Milburn, NJ, for their help in recruiting participants and data collection. The research was funded bythe grants from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Institutes of Health grant number 1R01HD057153. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NHTSA or NIH.

Notes

1. In the limit, if there was no attempt to limit the duration of an off-road glance, the ratio would be 1.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

A.K. Pradhan ^†

†Present address: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.