Crashes Induced by Driver Information Systems and What Can Be Done to Reduce Them

Future in-vehicle information systems may overload drivers, compromising driving safety and product usability. Suggestions of overload appear in (1) statistics from Japan, the United States, and Kuwait for mobile phone-related crashes, (2) statistics from Japan for navigation system-related crashes, and (3) human performance data. From most to least frequent, tasks associated with crashes were receiving a call, dialing, talking (on a phone), looking at a (navigation) display and operating an interface (for navigation). To optimize driver performance for future interfaces, developers should comply with design guidelines (JAMA, SAE J2364), work more closely with human factors experts, expand usability testing, and implement workload managers.