Systems developed to be operated in a vehicular environment have gradually begun to include further applications, which can be found in other mobile environments, such as smart phones and tablets. This continued growth could overwhelm the driver and affect road safety. Thus, it is crucial to ensure that these devices provide the type of information drivers need. This paper focuses on the presentation of in-vehicle information while driving. Function clusters and information prioritization for different modules in Driver Information Systems are primarily investigated through driver preferences analysis. Results are evaluated outlining implications for proper location of information on the in-vehicle displays.

In current driving simulation research, interaction between human drivers and the more or less smart programmed agents (bots) for surrounding traffic or vulnerable road users (VRU) under specific experimental conditions is the common approach [1], [2], [3]. But interaction between humans, especially in short-timed and complex situations like urban traffic, is a broad facetted, multi-directional and above all vital construct [4], [5]. Concerning this interaction the programmable traffic participants may run into constraints. This paper presents a method where the narrow spectrum of human-bot interaction is broken up. The apparatus consists of a multiparty simulator where a vehicle driver in a driving simulator and a pedestrian in a second simulator interact within the same simulated environment and encounter three types of crossing situations: free lane, occlusion and zebra crossing. Recorded data, (i.e. velocity) was analysed by means of a time-series analysis (crosscorrelation). This approach and the results shall foster the aspect of a more human-like behavior respectively human-human-interaction in a synthetic setting like driving simulation. Results show differences in the drivers' yielding behavior depending on whether the driver approaches a bot or a human pedestrian. Significant correlation between route design parameters and cross-correlational factors were also found.

People with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs), the loss of vision in the same half of the visual field in both eyes, are permitted to drive in some jurisdictions. However, the HVFD may cause difficulties in detecting hazards approaching on the side of the field loss (the blind side). An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) could assist with hazard detection, but little research has been conducted to evaluate the potential benefits of an ADAS for visually impaired drivers. We developed a prototype vibro-tactile assistance system for drivers with HVFDs and conducted a proof-of-concept driving simulation study to evaluate the system. Given that pedestrian accidents are the second most frequent cause of death in road traffic and most of those accidents occur in urban scenarios, we evaluated the potential of the assistance system to improve responses to pedestrian hazards in a city environment. Sixteen participants, of which eight had HVFDs and eight had normal vision, took part. Our analyses evaluated the effects of the driver assistance system, crossing direction, and pedestrian behavior on the safety of pedestrian events and the participant’s gaze behavior at each of the 256 crossing situations. Generalized linear mixed effects models were used to assess binomial outcome variables. Despite the limited sample size, the results suggest that the vibro-tactile directional warnings were effective in directing the drivers’ gaze so that they were looking in the necessary direction before a potential hazard occurred. More time was spent fixating pedestrians on the blind side when the ADAS was engaged, and as a result, the safety of street crossings from the blind side improved. The effect of the ADAS was greater on responses to pedestrians from the blind than the seeing side. With an activated ADAS, crossings from the participants’ blind sides were as safe as crossings from their seeing sides, and it was as safe as the crossings when normally sighted participants were driving. The results suggest that the vibro-tactile ADAS is a promising approach to improve the safety of drivers with HVFD and surrounding traffic.