An analysis of truck driver behavior, as part of Wyoming’s Connected Vehicle Pilot Program, finds that connected vehicle warnings alone are ineffective
Statewide, Wyoming, United States
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Connected Vehicle Weather and Work Zone Warnings in Improving Truck Driver Safety
Summary Information
Since 2013 the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) has funded a number of Connected Vehicle (CV) deployment and research efforts collectively known as ‘CV Pilots’. These efforts include a CV deployment in New York City, New York, a deployment in Tampa Bay, Florida, and a deployment along the I-80 corridor in Wyoming. Each of these deployments has a different focus area, but they all aim to understand how CV technology functions under real-world conditions.
METHODS
As part of these CV Pilots efforts researchers at the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) studied the effects of CV warnings and notification on driving behavior to understand how best to implement CV technologies.
WYDOT recruited twenty male, professional truck drivers for the study. Participants then drove through a series of environments, including foggy conditions and work zones, in a high-fidelity truck driving simulator. Each of the drivers drove both scenarios twice, once without CV warnings and once with CV warnings. Researchers collected data on speed, reaction times etc. for each scenario and compared drive behavior between the difference scenarios.
Lessons Learned
CV warnings are effective, but designers should be sure to give drivers actionable information along with a warning. Simply alerting drivers to upcoming bad weather conditions "did not prompt significant reductions in speed." However, when the system presented drivers with a warning and actionable information (e.g. a suggested speed reduction) drivers noticeably reduced their speed.
Assessment of the Effectiveness of Connected Vehicle Weather and Work Zone Warnings in Improving Truck Driver Safety
University of Wyoming Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering