Crash Avoidance Human Factors Research

The NHTSA Human Factors/Engineering Integration Division manages research, which explores how to improve driver performance and reduce unsafe behaviors. An additional focus is to evaluate driver’s capabilities that benefit from existing or new in-vehicle technologies. The research supports Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), safety defects investigations, consumer information, and the advancement of knowledge about driver behaviors and performance, including the development of vehicle technologies that are compatible with driver capabilities and limitations.

This interaction between the driver and the vehicle occurs through operation of controls, reading displays, interpreting signal light cues from other vehicles, responding to warnings and alerts from crash avoidance systems, and observing roadway events through direct and indirect visibility systems (i.e., windows and mirrors). These interactions define the interfaces between the driver and the vehicle. The manner in which these interfaces are designed and implemented can influence the ability of drivers to accurately sense, understand, and respond to potential traffic conflicts. An interface design that is not matched to the capabilities of the driving population can cause driver errors, distraction, slow response, misperception, and other problems that can contribute to crash causation.