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Title:

Supporting Safety for Emergency Response Drivers When Using Mobile Computer Terminals for In-Vehicle Interactions

Accession Number:

01626385

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

For many emergency response services, personnel interact with in-vehicle Mobile Computer Terminals (MCTs) to perform normal job duties. At times, emergency vehicle drivers interact with MCTs while driving, increasing their safety risk in an environment that is already quite hazardous. This experimental study tested the impact of multiple interface design factors that could affect structural interference when driving and interacting with MCTs or other in-vehicle devices. These factors included device (smartphone or touchscreen laptop), input method (manual versus voice entry), and type of task (navigation versus search, versus notification). Additionally, the study examined the performance impact of employing a novel display of concurrent tactile feedback to support speed maintenance. The results suggest potential benefits for voice over manual entry and for laptops over handheld devices, primarily because of screen size. However, observations indicate that devices requiring larger visual and postural reorientation may induce lane drift. The search task showed significantly faster response times than either of the other tasks, potentially due to the smaller degree of visual reorientation required to complete the task and its simpler response. Results also suggest potential driving performance benefits for the use of concurrent tactile feedback but indicate caution should be used in its implementation, as providing drivers with unidimensional tactile feedback may result in decrements in other dimensions of driving performance. These results can inform MCT developers and emergency response personnel in mitigating the risks associated with job-related MCT usage while driving.

Supplemental Notes:

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND20 Standing Committee on User Information Systems.

Monograph Accession #:

01618707

Report/Paper Numbers:

17-05868

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Tippey, Kathryn G
Dinakar, Swaroop
Sivaraj, Elayraj
Ferris, Thomas K

Pagination:

13p

Publication Date:

2017

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; Photos; References (34)

Subject Areas:

Highways; Safety and Human Factors

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2017 Paper #17-05868

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Dec 8 2016 12:21PM