ABSTRACT
Using induced unintentional lane departure (ULD) in an advanced driving simulator, we investigated car drivers’ acceptance of rumble strips and lane departure warning system (LDW), respectively, and driving performance with each of these warning types. Twenty-four participants drove with simulated rumble strips in one trial and with a simulated LDW in another trial. A forced yaw motion of the vehicle induced ULDs while the driver attended jammed music coming from a CD-player. Each drive took about 25 min to complete and was set up to include 13 events of ULD coupled with jammed music in which the driver had to immediately change point of gaze from the road to take care of the CD-player. The results show the drivers were more satisfied with the LDW, trusted the rumble strips more, and overall preferred the warning types about equally. All drivers considered it valuable to have assistance in ULD, either by the rumble strips or the LDW, and several (i.e. 25%) chose to have both types of warning in parallel. Response completion was 78faster with the rumble strips warning, but no difference was found in time to back in lane and lane exceedence area, respectively. Thus, although differences in driver acceptance and performance were found between using the LDW and the rumble strips there were no major overall differences. The clear preference for having a warning function further strengthens the positive opinion on the need for assistance systems in ULDs.
