In-car distractions and automated driving: a preliminary simulator study

As vehicles with automated driving features become more common, drivers may become ever more tempted to engage in secondary in-car tasks. We report on the results of a driving simulator study that investigated whether the presence of an in-car video would make drivers more likely to switch on an automated driving system so that they can watch the video. Results show an increase in automated driving mode usage when a video was playing compared to when it was not playing. The presence of this in-car video also made participants slower at reacting to frequent red traffic lights, which the automated driving mode did not detect and were the responsibility of the driver to respond to. These results suggest that in-car distractions are a critical concern for the safe and responsible use of automated driving systems.