abstract: Driving is the coordinated operation of mind and body for movement of a vehicle, such as a car, or a bus. Driving, being considered an everyday activity for many people, still has an issue of safety. Driver distraction is becoming a critical safety problem. Speed, drunk driving as well as distracted driving are the three leading factors in the fatal car crashes. Distraction, which is defined as an excessive workload and limited attention, is the main paradigm that guides this research area. Driver behavior analysis can be used to address the distraction problem and provide an intelligent adaptive agent to work closely with the driver, fay beyond traditional algorithmic computational models. A variety of machine learning approaches has been proposed to estimate or predict drivers’ fatigue level using car data, driver status or a combination of them. Three important features of intelligence and cognition are perception, attention and sensory memory. In this thesis, I focused on memory and attention as essential parts of highly intelligent systems. Without memory, systems will only show limited intelligence since their response would be exclusively based on spontaneous decision without considering the effect of previous events. I proposed a memory-based sequence to predict the driver behavior and distraction level using neural network. The work started with a large-scale experiment to collect data and make an artificial intelligence-friendly dataset. After that, the data was used to train a deep neural network to estimate the driver behavior. With a focus on memory by using Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) network to increase the level of intelligence in two dimensions: Forgiveness of minor glitches, and accumulation of anomalous behavior., I reduced the model error and computational expense by adding attention mechanism on the top of LSTM models. This system can be generalized to build and train highly intelligent agents in other domains. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Computer Engineering 2020

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are injuries to the brain associated with the transfer of energy from some external source. There are an estimated 1.4 million TBIs each year, and about half are due to transportation crashes (NINDS, 2007). Driver distraction is defined as a process or condition that draws a driver's attention away from driving activities toward a competing activity (Sheridan, 2004) and has been identified as an under-examined issue for TBI populations (Cyr, et al., 2008). The interaction between the cognitive impairments related to TBIs and the competing demands from driver distraction may be especially problematic. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the effect of driver distraction on individuals with TBI. This dissertation uses several approaches and data sources: crash data, a TBI registry, a survey of TBI drivers, and an on-road driving study of TBI and non-TBI drivers. Results demonstrate that a subset of TBI drivers are more willing to engage in distracting tasks and they are more likely to have received speeding tickets. TBI drivers involved in crashes were less likely to wear seatbelts and were more likely to be involved in multiple crashes compared to all other drivers in crashes. Additionally, a subset of TBI drivers exhibits more risk-taking while driving that may result from the TBI or a predisposition to take risks. A Bayesian approach was used to analyze the effect of distracting tasks on driving performance of TBI drivers in an on-road study. A simulator study of non-TBI drivers was used to develop prior distributions of parameter estimates. The distracting tasks include a CD selecting task, a coin sorting task, and a radio tuning task. All of the tasks contained visual-manual components and the coin sorting task contained an additional cognitive component associated with counting the currency. This suggests that TBI drivers exhibited worse driving performance during a coin sorting task than the non-TBI drivers in terms of the standard deviation of speed and maximum lateral acceleration of the vehicle. This suggests that the cognitive component of the coin sorting task may be causing the decreased performance for the TBI drivers. Across all tasks, TBI drivers spent a larger percent of the task duration looking at the task with a larger number of glances towards the distraction task than the non-TBI drivers. Driver distractions with cognitive components may be especially problematic for TBI drivers. Future work should investigate if this effect is consistent across more complex cognitive driver distraction tasks (e.g., cell phone usage) for this population. Additionally, future work should validate the high proportion of TBI drivers involved in multiple crashes.

Distracted driving is a dangerous activity that continues to claim lives on roadways throughout the United States. A goal of this research was to collect distracted driving behavior data through observation in the field. A methodological approach was devised to keep data collection consistent across the observation periods. Analysis of the data provided information regarding trends in distraction type or driving behavior while engaging in a secondary activity. In combination with the observational portion of this research, another key component to understanding distracted driving was the crash report narrative key word search. By searching through the crash reports, it was determined which key words have high discriminating powers that indicate distraction was a key component to a crash. Additionally, the key word search demonstrated how accurately distraction related crashes are reported via the crash report form. This research contributed to the existing literature regarding distracted driving and also expanded the methods of research that are currently in use.

In this thesis, situations were analyzed in which drivers operate infotainment systems (IVIS) while driving. In this, the focus lay on such situations in which drivers operated these secondary tasks successfully. Following that, a resource orientated approach was chosen in contrast to the focus of many other studies. Demonstrating the negative effects of secondary tasks while driving was less central in this thesis. Rather, everyday behavior adaptations were analyzed that enabled drivers to operate secondary tasks successfully while driving. Therefore these adaptations were measured with regards to the following three factors: driving task, secondary task and mental workload. Additionally the influence of several secondary task attributes was analyzed. Thereby especially the perceived interruptibility was researched in detail. The thesis contains 3 different parts: 1. Introduction to research field, 2. Empiric part and 3. Overall discussion. In the first part an introduction and an overview of the current research concerning secondary task operation while driving is presented. The second part contains 3 studies, each presented in manuscript form. The goal of the first study was to show basic behavior adaptations in a driving simulator study that enables drivers to operate secondary tasks while driving. Thereby it became obvious that drivers adapted their driving behavior as well as their activity in the secondary task dynamically to the specific situation. The driving task was prioritized thereby. The adaptations were dependent on the current as well as the anticipated development of the situations and correspondingly sensitive to the variation of a cue to a hazardous driving situation. If drivers were warned (and thereby an anticipation was possible), they reduced especially their activity in the secondary task. In the second study the influence of mental workload and the attributes of a secondary task were analyzed in-depth. Drivers were informed by a noise signal either about an upcoming unknown driving situation or about an upcoming speed reduction situation in this study. It could be shown that if a secondary task can be interrupted without a perceived decline in performance, it is interrupted in demanding driving situations. If an interruption causes a perceived performance loss, the task is interrupted less often, and so the workload is increased (measured with a physiological measurement). Thus, drivers compensate their current demands by behavior adaptations in different factors, depending on the characteristics of a secondary task. The interaction between driving task, secondary task and workload could be proven by this research. Only if a secondary task could be interrupted without a perceived loss of performance drivers interrupted the task before a hazardous situation was reached. In line with the findings from the studies above a setting was developed for the third study that is less bound to the simulation of complex driving situations and thereby independent from specific driving simulator settings. Nevertheless the anticipation of further driving situations and the option to adapt behavior was given to the drivers by the setting to measure the effects described above. Additionally secondary tasks were analyzed that have a high comparability to common IVIS. Thus, a focus was on the influence of tasks that require time critical inputs. As expected, in tasks with time critical inputs the activity was less often reduced, even if a demanding driving situation was announced. Thereby another influencing factor to the perceived interruptibility of secondary tasks could be analyzed. In the presented studies it was shown that drivers anticipate the further development of a situation and adapt their activity in the secondary task dynamically due to several characteristics of this task. For the future evaluation of IVIS, methodological requirements were deduced from the presented studies and a possible setting for further research was discussed. / In dieser Dissertation werden Situationen untersucht, in denen Fahrer während der Fahrt Infotainmentsysteme (In- Vehicle Infotainment Systeme, kurz IVIS) bedienen. Hierbei wird der Fokus auf Situationen gelegt, in denen Fahrer erfolgreich Nebenaufgaben bearbeiten. Im Gegensatz zu einer Vielzahl von anderen Studien wird hier ein ressourcenorientierter Ansatz gewählt. Im Mittelpunkt steht demnach weniger der Nachweis von Leistungseinbußen in der Fahraufgabe durch zusätzliche Aufgaben. Es wird im Gegensatz dazu herausgearbeitet, durch welche alltäglichen Verhaltensanpassungen Fahrer in der Lage sind, Aufgaben zusätzlich zur Fahraufgabe erfolgreich zu bearbeiten. Dazu werden diese Verhaltensanpassungen messbar gemacht. Ein Hauptaugenmerk wird dabei auf die Faktoren Fahraufgabe, Nebenaufgabe und die mentale Beanspruchung gelegt. Des Weiteren wird der Einfluss verschiedener Nebenaufgaben auf das Verhalten analysiert. Dabei wird insbesondere die wahrgenommene Unterbrechbarkeit der Nebenaufgaben detailliert untersucht. Die Arbeit besteht aus 3 Teilen: 1. Hintergrund des Forschungsfeldes, 2.Experimentalteil und 3. zusammenfassende Diskussion. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wird zunächst eine Einführung in das Forschungsfeld gegeben und anschließend ein Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand in Bezug auf Zweitaufgabenbearbeitung während der Fahrt. Im Experimentalteil werden 3 Studien präsentiert, die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgeführt wurden (jeweils in Form einer Veröffentlichung). In der ersten Studie war das Ziel grundlegende Verhaltensanpassungen in einer Fahrsimulationsstudie nachzuweisen, die es Fahrern ermöglichen Nebenaufgaben erfolgreich während der Fahrt zu bearbeiten. Dabei wurde deutlich, dass Fahrer ihr Fahrverhalten und ihre Eingabeaktivität in einer Nebenaufgabe der jeweiligen Situation dynamisch anpassen. Die Fahraufgabe wurde dabei priorisiert. Die Verhaltensanpassungen waren sowohl abhängig von der aktuellen, als auch von der antizipierten Situation und zeigten sich demnach abhängig von der Variation eines Hinweisreizes auf eine kritische Verkehrssituation. Als die Fahrer vor einer möglichen Gefahr gewarnt wurden (sie diese also antizipieren konnten), wurde insbesondere die Aktivität in der Nebenaufgabe reduziert. In der daran anschließenden Studie wurde die Rolle der Beanspruchung im Zusammenhang mit den Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgabe näher untersucht. Probanden wurden mithilfe eines Tons entweder auf eine bevorstehende, unbekannte Fahrsituation oder auf eine bevorstehende Geschwindigkeitsreduktion hingewiesen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Fahrer in Situationen, in denen sie den weiteren Fahrverlauf antizipieren und die Nebenaufgabe ohne wahrgenommenen Leistungsverlust unterbrechen konnten, signifikant weniger bedienten. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigte sich in Nebenaufgaben, deren Unterbrechung einen direkten Leistungsverlust nach sich zog, dass Fahrer auch in kritischen Situation gleich viel bedienten. Dieses Verhalten wurde durch eine höhere Anstrengung kompensiert (gemessen mit einem physiologischen Beanspruchungsmaß). Der Zusammenhang der drei Faktoren Fahraufgabe, Nebenaufgabe und Beanspruchung wurde hierbei deutlich. Des Weiteren konnte der Einfluss der Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgaben deutlich gemacht werden: Nur wenn die Unterbrechung der Nebenaufgabe keinen direkten Leistungsverlust zur Folge hatte, wurde diese bereits vor dem Auftreten einer kritischen Situation unterbrochen. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen der ersten beiden Studien wurde für die dritte Studie ein vereinfachtes Setting entwickelt, das weniger auf der Simulation komplexer Fahrsituationen basiert, mithilfe dessen jedoch dennoch die relevanten Effekte messbar sein sollen. Dadurch wird das Setting unabhängiger von einer bestimmten Simulationsumgebung. Dabei wurde den Probanden sowohl ermöglicht relevante Fahrsituationen zu antizipieren als auch ihr Verhalten daran anzupassen. Des Weiteren wurden Nebenaufgaben analysiert, die ähnliche Bedieneingaben erforderten wie gebräuchliche IVIS, und die zum Teil zeitkritische Eingaben erforderten. Wenn Eingaben zeitkritisch gemacht werden mussten, wurde die Nebenaufgabe erwartungsgemäß seltener unterbrochen, auch wenn eine kritische Fahrsituation angekündigt wurde. Dadurch wurde ein weiterer Einflussfaktor auf die wahrgenommene Unterbrechbarkeit von Aufgaben in Fahrsituationen untersucht. In den vorliegenden Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass Fahrer den weiteren Verlauf von Fahrsituationen antizipieren und ihre Aktivität in einer Nebenaufgabe dynamisch und in Abhängigkeit zu bestimmten Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgabe anpassen. Für die zukünftige Bewertung von IVIS wurden dabei relevante methodische Rahmenbedingungen herausgearbeitet und ein mögliches Setting vorgestellt.

abstract: Driver distraction research has a long history spanning nearly 50 years, intensifying in the last decade. The focus has always been on identifying the distractive tasks and measuring the respective harm level. As in-vehicle technology advances, the list of distractive activities grows along with crash risk. Additionally, the distractive activities become more common and complicated, especially with regard to In-Car Interactive System. This work's main focus is on driver distraction caused by the in-car interactive System. There have been many User Interaction Designs (Buttons, Speech, Visual) for Human-Car communication, in the past and currently present. And, all related studies suggest that driver distraction level is still high and there is a need for a better design. Multimodal Interaction is a design approach, which relies on using multiple modes for humans to interact with the car & hence reducing driver distraction by allowing the driver to choose the most suitable mode with minimum distraction. Additionally, combining multiple modes simultaneously provides more natural interaction, which could lead to less distraction. The main goal of MMI is to enable the driver to be more attentive to driving tasks and spend less time fiddling with distractive tasks. Engineering based method is used to measure driver distraction. This method uses metrics like Reaction time, Acceleration, Lane Departure obtained from test cases. / Dissertation/Thesis / presentation / REACTION TIMES / DRIVING DATA RESULTS / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2015

The purpose of the current study was to empirically examine the effects of accident scenes on eye movement as well as driving behavior. Fifty-four participants drove in a driving simulator wearing a head-mounted eye-tracker in three experimental drives, one of which had an accident scene. The participants were put into one of three different conditions (no barrier, partial barrier, or full barrier). The results showed significant main effects of distraction (accident vs. no accident) on dwell frequency and duration, average speed, and root mean square error of the steering wheel angle during the drive with the accident scenes. In addition, the results also showed significant interaction effects between distraction and type of barrier (no, partial, or full) on dwell frequency and duration. The full barrier condition had the biggest effect on decreasing dwell duration and frequency. The findings support the Salience Effort Expectancy Value (SEEV) model of attention and previous research stating objects high in salience attract attention (Wickens & Horrey, 2008; Itti & Koch, 2000). These findings also support previous research by Mayer, Caird, Milloy, Percival, & Ohlhauser (2010) stating that drivers drive in the safest manner (lowest passing speed) when an emergency vehicles are present with the emergency lights on. Temporary barriers could be used to help decrease the effects of rubbernecking on highways when an accident scene is present (Masinick & Teng, 2004; Potts, Harwood, Hutton, & Kinzel, 2010)

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death during adolescence, with the fatal crash rate per mile-driven for 16-19 years old drivers being nearly 3 times larger than the rate for drivers age 20 and older. High gravitational events among teenage drivers, such as quick starts, and hard stops, have been shown to be highly correlated with crash rates. The current younger driver training programs developed in the late 1990s, however, do not appear to be especially effective in regard to many skills which are critical to avoiding crashes. With this in mind, a simulator-based training program aimed at reducing the behaviors that make quick accelerations unsafe and quick decelerations unnecessary was designed and evaluated. The training adopts the active training strategy which has been proven to be effective, and includes those scenarios in which teenage drivers are at highest risks. It is expected that drivers who receive the active training will drive more safely than drivers who receive the placebo training, in terms of eye scanning behaviors in scenarios where quick accelerations are necessary (e.g., how often they glance towards areas where threats could emerge), following behaviors in scenarios where a lead vehicle could stop suddenly (e.g., how much headway they allow between their vehicle and a lead vehicle), and vehicle behaviors such as speed, acceleration rate, deceleration rate and headway.

abstract: Driving is already a complex task that demands a varying level of cognitive and physical load. With the advancement in technology, the car has become a place for media consumption, a communications center and an interconnected workplace. The number of features in a car has also increased. As a result, the user interaction inside the car has become overcrowded and more complex. This has increased the amount of distraction while driving and has also increased the number of accidents due to distracted driving. This thesis focuses on the critical analysis of today’s in-car environment covering two main aspects, Multi Modal Interaction (MMI), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), to minimize the distraction. It also provides deep market research on future trends in the smart car technology. After careful analysis, it was observed that an infotainment screen cluttered with lots of small icons, a center stack with a plethora of small buttons and a poor Voice Recognition (VR) results in high cognitive load, and these are the reasons for the increased driver distraction. Though the VR has become a standard technology, the current state of technology is focused on features oriented design and a sales driven approach. Most of the automotive manufacturers are focusing on making the VR better but attaining perfection in VR is not the answer as there are inherent challenges and limitations in respect to the in-car environment and cognitive load. Accordingly, the research proposed a novel in-car interaction design solution: Multi-Modal Interaction (MMI). The MMI is a new term when used in the context of vehicles, but it is widely used in human-human interaction. The approach offers a non-intrusive alternative to the driver to interact with the features in the car. With the focus on user-centered design, the MMI and ADAS can potentially help to reduce the distraction. To support the discussion, an experiment was conducted to benchmark a minimalist UI design. An engineering based method was used to test and measure distraction of four different UIs with varying numbers of icons and screen sizes. Lastly, in order to compete with the market, the basic features that are provided by all the other competitors cannot be eliminated, but the hard work can be done to improve the HCaI and to make driving safer. / Dissertation/Thesis / Date collected about reaction time in the experiment_Excel / Masters Thesis Computer Science 2015

Distracted driving involving secondary tasks is known to lead to an increased likelihood of being involved in motor vehicle crashes. Some secondary tasks are unnecessary and should never be performed. But other secondary tasks, e.g., operating the defroster, are critical to safe driving. Ideally, the driver should schedule when to perform the critical tasks such that the likelihood of a hazard materializing is relatively small during the performance of the secondary task. The current study evaluates a training program -- STRAP (Secondary Task Regulatory & Anticipatory Program) -- which is designed to make drivers aware of latent hazards in the hope that they regulate engagement in secondary tasks which they are performing at the time the latent hazard appears. The secondary tasks include both tasks that require drivers to take their eyes off the road (e.g., operating the defroster) and those which do not (e.g., cell phone use). Participants were assigned either to STRAP or placebo training. After training, the groups navigated eight different scenarios on a driving simulator and were instructed to engage during the drive in as many secondary tasks as possible as long as they felt safe to do so. Secondary task engagement was fully user paced. It is important to note that drivers receiving STRAP training were never instructed directly to either disengage from or not engage in secondary tasks when encountering latent hazards. The results show that STRAP trained drivers were more likely to detect latent hazards and associated clues than placebo trained drivers. With regards to secondary task engagement, STRAP trained drivers chose to limit their in-vehicle and cell phone task engagement by focusing on the forward roadway rather than the task at hand. STRAP training holds out the promise of providing individuals with the necessary skills and proactive awareness to make safe decisions regarding the non-performance or interruption of a secondary task in the presence of a potential latent hazard.

In this thesis, situations were analyzed in which drivers operate infotainment systems (IVIS) while driving. In this, the focus lay on such situations in which drivers operated these secondary tasks successfully. Following that, a resource orientated approach was chosen in contrast to the focus of many other studies. Demonstrating the negative effects of secondary tasks while driving was less central in this thesis. Rather, everyday behavior adaptations were analyzed that enabled drivers to operate secondary tasks successfully while driving. Therefore these adaptations were measured with regards to the following three factors: driving task, secondary task and mental workload. Additionally the influence of several secondary task attributes was analyzed. Thereby especially the perceived interruptibility was researched in detail. The thesis contains 3 different parts: 1. Introduction to research field, 2. Empiric part and 3. Overall discussion. In the first part an introduction and an overview of the current research concerning secondary task operation while driving is presented. The second part contains 3 studies, each presented in manuscript form. The goal of the first study was to show basic behavior adaptations in a driving simulator study that enables drivers to operate secondary tasks while driving. Thereby it became obvious that drivers adapted their driving behavior as well as their activity in the secondary task dynamically to the specific situation. The driving task was prioritized thereby. The adaptations were dependent on the current as well as the anticipated development of the situations and correspondingly sensitive to the variation of a cue to a hazardous driving situation. If drivers were warned (and thereby an anticipation was possible), they reduced especially their activity in the secondary task. In the second study the influence of mental workload and the attributes of a secondary task were analyzed in-depth. Drivers were informed by a noise signal either about an upcoming unknown driving situation or about an upcoming speed reduction situation in this study. It could be shown that if a secondary task can be interrupted without a perceived decline in performance, it is interrupted in demanding driving situations. If an interruption causes a perceived performance loss, the task is interrupted less often, and so the workload is increased (measured with a physiological measurement). Thus, drivers compensate their current demands by behavior adaptations in different factors, depending on the characteristics of a secondary task. The interaction between driving task, secondary task and workload could be proven by this research. Only if a secondary task could be interrupted without a perceived loss of performance drivers interrupted the task before a hazardous situation was reached. In line with the findings from the studies above a setting was developed for the third study that is less bound to the simulation of complex driving situations and thereby independent from specific driving simulator settings. Nevertheless the anticipation of further driving situations and the option to adapt behavior was given to the drivers by the setting to measure the effects described above. Additionally secondary tasks were analyzed that have a high comparability to common IVIS. Thus, a focus was on the influence of tasks that require time critical inputs. As expected, in tasks with time critical inputs the activity was less often reduced, even if a demanding driving situation was announced. Thereby another influencing factor to the perceived interruptibility of secondary tasks could be analyzed. In the presented studies it was shown that drivers anticipate the further development of a situation and adapt their activity in the secondary task dynamically due to several characteristics of this task. For the future evaluation of IVIS, methodological requirements were deduced from the presented studies and a possible setting for further research was discussed. / In dieser Dissertation werden Situationen untersucht, in denen Fahrer während der Fahrt Infotainmentsysteme (In- Vehicle Infotainment Systeme, kurz IVIS) bedienen. Hierbei wird der Fokus auf Situationen gelegt, in denen Fahrer erfolgreich Nebenaufgaben bearbeiten. Im Gegensatz zu einer Vielzahl von anderen Studien wird hier ein ressourcenorientierter Ansatz gewählt. Im Mittelpunkt steht demnach weniger der Nachweis von Leistungseinbußen in der Fahraufgabe durch zusätzliche Aufgaben. Es wird im Gegensatz dazu herausgearbeitet, durch welche alltäglichen Verhaltensanpassungen Fahrer in der Lage sind, Aufgaben zusätzlich zur Fahraufgabe erfolgreich zu bearbeiten. Dazu werden diese Verhaltensanpassungen messbar gemacht. Ein Hauptaugenmerk wird dabei auf die Faktoren Fahraufgabe, Nebenaufgabe und die mentale Beanspruchung gelegt. Des Weiteren wird der Einfluss verschiedener Nebenaufgaben auf das Verhalten analysiert. Dabei wird insbesondere die wahrgenommene Unterbrechbarkeit der Nebenaufgaben detailliert untersucht. Die Arbeit besteht aus 3 Teilen: 1. Hintergrund des Forschungsfeldes, 2.Experimentalteil und 3. zusammenfassende Diskussion. Im ersten Teil der Arbeit wird zunächst eine Einführung in das Forschungsfeld gegeben und anschließend ein Überblick über den aktuellen Forschungsstand in Bezug auf Zweitaufgabenbearbeitung während der Fahrt. Im Experimentalteil werden 3 Studien präsentiert, die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgeführt wurden (jeweils in Form einer Veröffentlichung). In der ersten Studie war das Ziel grundlegende Verhaltensanpassungen in einer Fahrsimulationsstudie nachzuweisen, die es Fahrern ermöglichen Nebenaufgaben erfolgreich während der Fahrt zu bearbeiten. Dabei wurde deutlich, dass Fahrer ihr Fahrverhalten und ihre Eingabeaktivität in einer Nebenaufgabe der jeweiligen Situation dynamisch anpassen. Die Fahraufgabe wurde dabei priorisiert. Die Verhaltensanpassungen waren sowohl abhängig von der aktuellen, als auch von der antizipierten Situation und zeigten sich demnach abhängig von der Variation eines Hinweisreizes auf eine kritische Verkehrssituation. Als die Fahrer vor einer möglichen Gefahr gewarnt wurden (sie diese also antizipieren konnten), wurde insbesondere die Aktivität in der Nebenaufgabe reduziert. In der daran anschließenden Studie wurde die Rolle der Beanspruchung im Zusammenhang mit den Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgabe näher untersucht. Probanden wurden mithilfe eines Tons entweder auf eine bevorstehende, unbekannte Fahrsituation oder auf eine bevorstehende Geschwindigkeitsreduktion hingewiesen. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass Fahrer in Situationen, in denen sie den weiteren Fahrverlauf antizipieren und die Nebenaufgabe ohne wahrgenommenen Leistungsverlust unterbrechen konnten, signifikant weniger bedienten. Im Gegensatz dazu zeigte sich in Nebenaufgaben, deren Unterbrechung einen direkten Leistungsverlust nach sich zog, dass Fahrer auch in kritischen Situation gleich viel bedienten. Dieses Verhalten wurde durch eine höhere Anstrengung kompensiert (gemessen mit einem physiologischen Beanspruchungsmaß). Der Zusammenhang der drei Faktoren Fahraufgabe, Nebenaufgabe und Beanspruchung wurde hierbei deutlich. Des Weiteren konnte der Einfluss der Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgaben deutlich gemacht werden: Nur wenn die Unterbrechung der Nebenaufgabe keinen direkten Leistungsverlust zur Folge hatte, wurde diese bereits vor dem Auftreten einer kritischen Situation unterbrochen. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen der ersten beiden Studien wurde für die dritte Studie ein vereinfachtes Setting entwickelt, das weniger auf der Simulation komplexer Fahrsituationen basiert, mithilfe dessen jedoch dennoch die relevanten Effekte messbar sein sollen. Dadurch wird das Setting unabhängiger von einer bestimmten Simulationsumgebung. Dabei wurde den Probanden sowohl ermöglicht relevante Fahrsituationen zu antizipieren als auch ihr Verhalten daran anzupassen. Des Weiteren wurden Nebenaufgaben analysiert, die ähnliche Bedieneingaben erforderten wie gebräuchliche IVIS, und die zum Teil zeitkritische Eingaben erforderten. Wenn Eingaben zeitkritisch gemacht werden mussten, wurde die Nebenaufgabe erwartungsgemäß seltener unterbrochen, auch wenn eine kritische Fahrsituation angekündigt wurde. Dadurch wurde ein weiterer Einflussfaktor auf die wahrgenommene Unterbrechbarkeit von Aufgaben in Fahrsituationen untersucht. In den vorliegenden Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass Fahrer den weiteren Verlauf von Fahrsituationen antizipieren und ihre Aktivität in einer Nebenaufgabe dynamisch und in Abhängigkeit zu bestimmten Eigenschaften der Nebenaufgabe anpassen. Für die zukünftige Bewertung von IVIS wurden dabei relevante methodische Rahmenbedingungen herausgearbeitet und ein mögliches Setting vorgestellt.