A study by the University has shown the length of time needed for a driver to switch from automated vehicle control to manual vehicle control is crucial for the safety of future automated vehicles.
If ‘driverless cars’ become common place on our roads in the future, a driver will be able to choose whether to take control themselves or leave the vehicle in automation.
Simulations run by a team at the University showed a very broad range of ‘control transition times’ for participants to resume control of their car. The researchers believe their findings will be important for system designers when considering the lead time needed to take control of a vehicle and suggest the focus shouldn’t just be on the average time needed for a person to successfully switch, but rather on the range of resumption times. Results are published in the journal Human Factors.
Engineers Professor Neville Stanton and Alexander Eriksson found that, under non-critical conditions, drivers needed between 1.9 and 25.7 seconds to take control from automation. Such a large range reflects a variety of driver behaviour and environmental conditions.
Professor Stanton comments:
We hope our findings can guide policymakers in setting guidelines for how much lead time a driver will need when changing in and out of automation. The challenge for designers is accommodating the full range of response times rather than limiting parameters to mean or median transition times.
You can read the full press release here.
