Performing a non-driving related activity (NDRA) is often equated with being distracted. While it may seem pedagogically sound to discourage any form of NDRA, this approach can have the opposite effect. If drivers find that they can engage in an NDRA without negative consequences in some situations, they may incorrectly generalise this behaviour and assume that their driving is sufficiently good to perform NDRAs also in other more demanding situations. Eventually, this may lead to drivers underestimating the risks of inattention. The MiRA theory defines “attention” as when a road user samples information from all required target areas in a specific situation in a timely manner. If the road user has the spare capacity to perform other tasks, they would still be considered “attentive.” However, if not all required areas are sampled, the road user would be classified as “inattentive” in that situation, regardless of whether they are performing an NDRA. The objective of this study was to investigate whether drivers integrate a partially self-paced NDRA into urban driving with varying attentional requirements, and whether one’s self-reported driving style and cycling experience affects this.
This work was carried out within the Integrated 4D driver modelling under uncertainty (i4Driving) project which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement ID 101076165).