The quantity and nature of in-vehicle cognitive demands experienced by real-world drivers

A real-world driving study was conducted into the cognitive demands within the cabin of a modern domestic car. The quantity and nature of the interactions were recorded, along with dashboard and centre console glances.... [ view full abstract ]

A real-world driving study was conducted into the cognitive demands within the cabin of a modern domestic car. The quantity and nature of the interactions were recorded, along with dashboard and centre console glances. Ethnographic data was collected from a sample of 8 drivers using remote video analysis and a journey diary. The results suggest that glancing at the dashboard is the highest singularly demanding task, and the highest cognitive demands occur when several types of visuospatial sketchpad representational information are presented to the driver. Therefore, the type of information presented may be more demanding than the area it comes from.