A large percentage of traffic accidents are due to human errors. Driving behavior and driving stress influence the probability of making these mistakes. Both are influenced by multiple factors, among which might be elements such as age, gender, sleeping hours, or working hours. The objective of this paper is to study, in a real scenario and without forcing the driver’s state, the relationship between driving behavior, driving stress, and these elements. Furthermore, we aim to provide guidelines to improve driving assistants. In this study, we used 1050 driving samples obtained from 35 volunteers. The driving samples correspond to regular commutes from home to the workplace. ANOVA and ANCOVA tests were carried out to check if there are significant differences in the four factors analyzed. Although the results show that driving behavior and driving stress are affected by gender, age, and sleeping hours, the most critical variable is working hours. Drivers with long working days suffer significantly more driving stress compared to other drivers, with the corresponding effect on their driving style. These drivers were the worst at maintaining the safety distance.

Previous work has demonstrated the feasibility of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as an alternative technology for data transfers in inter-vehicular communication (IVC) scenarios. Bluetooth 5.x core specifications enhance the trade-off between energy requirements, communication range and flexibility. In this paper, we aim to analyse the potential of Bluetooth 5 features for VANET applications, proposing a connectionless communication system. By means of field experiments, we evaluate long range and 2 × speed features, defining a set of communication scenarios. This allows us to test both Bluetooth 5.x range and application throughput. The evaluation includes experiments of V2I communications carried out under real highway traffic conditions. The experiments conducted demonstrate that communication ranges up to 300 m may be achieved depending on the communications scenario. The results also show how throughput degrades as the distance between devices increases. The results obtained are used to discuss future work, aimed at deeper analysing Bluetooth 5 features for VANET applications, completing the development of our prototype and evaluating VANET connectionless communications with the features included in the latest Bluetooth 5.2 specification.

Spain is one of the countries most affected by COVID-19. Until May 5, 2021 there have been 3.54 million people infected and 78,399 deaths according to the Johns Hopkins Institute. This has meant that Spain is one of the countries in the world where the most restrictive measures have been adopted and which have had a strong impact on the economic, social, and mental health of citizens. One of the consequences of this pandemic is a severe increase in the strain on the healthcare system. Many of those infected had to be admitted to hospitals and even to Intensive Care Units (ICU). In this scenario, it is essential to reduce traffic accidents in order to avoid overcrowded hospitals. However, the Spanish General Directorate of Traffic highlights in several traffic reports that despite the decrease in the volume and distance of trips, the number of traffic accidents has not altered significantly and even during some periods has been higher than before the pandemic. The aim of this work is to establish if there has been a change in the driving style of drivers during the pandemic and to identify the group of people adopting a more inefficient and unsafe driving style. To this end, a study was carried out with 30 volunteers and their current driving style was compared with their driving style before the pandemic. The results show that drivers have adopted a more aggressive driving style than before the pandemic, especially women and those who have suffered anxiety due to COVID-19.

Road accidents and safe driving are one of the main concerns of transportation systems and the companies that explore different solutions to reduce the accident rate. The most interesting option to achieve this goal is through an on-board training of professional drivers to apply safe driving techniques during their work activity. The purpose of this study is to analyze a monitoring system that is not limited to the real-time vehicle tracking but is also capable of monitoring and providing real-time feedback and in-vehicle training. We analyze the influence of different sociodemographic factors on driving behavior. The analyzed data correspond to an urban public transport company, obtained from a study performed on 246 drivers. The drivers received training based on a blended learning system with an on-board feedback device, accompanied by both theoretical and practical sessions. The driving behavior of each driver is obtained from the data gathered from the vehicles that allow us to characterize their driving patterns. The information related to safe driving is completed with a list of the records of road accidents. The results of the sociodemographic influence on driving behavior provide significant information, giving an elaborated classification of safety driving patterns in order to apply intelligent transportation systems.

The transport network and mobility aspects are constantly changing, and major changes are expected in the coming years in terms of safety and sustainability purposes. In this paper, we present the main conclusions and analysis of data collected from a survey of drivers in Spain and Portugal regarding user preferences, highlighting the main functionalities and behavior that an advanced driver assistance system must have in order to grant it special importance on the road to prevent accidents and also to enable drivers to have a pleasant journey. Based on the results obtained from the survey, we developed and present a working prototype for an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), its architecture and rules systems that allowed us to create and test some scenarios in a real environment.

Efficient driving has been positioned as the most popular alternative to reduce air pollution and obtain fuel savings. However, efficient driving requires a continuous learning process in order to prevent users reverting to their original habits. To facilitate the learning process, on‐board tutoring systems have appeared. In this study, the authors analyse in detail the impact of two types of such eco‐feedback devices on driver's behaviour. The evaluated tutoring systems include information related to the optimal engaged gear, but also related to other safety and comfort parameters. Their analysis is based on one of the largest and heterogeneous population groups of non‐professional drivers who have participated in experiments with feedback devices specifically designed to achieve more efficient driving. A total number of 158 volunteers participated in the experiments covering periods of time between 3 and 11 months and using the feedback devices during their daily routine. Results show that, in general, users evolve positively following the eco‐driving recommendations throughout the duration of the experiments. In addition, there are significant differences in the use of the tutoring system depending on the type of route, the time of day and other factors such as age or gender.