ABSTRACT

The theme of vehicle automation is likely to receive increased attention from ergonomists and psychologists in the coming years as the gap between concepts, prototypes, and production vehicles narrows. Although much is written on ergonomic issues connected with vehicle operation, such as occupant packaging, driver comfort, safety, design of controls and displays (see Peacock and Karwowski 1993) little attention is given to vehicle automation. Even texts which address future vehicles tend to concentrate on Road Traffic Informatics and not automation (Parkes and Franzen 1993).