Using Occlusion to Measure the Effects of the NHTSA Participant Criteria on Driver Distraction Testing

Abstract

Recently the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the final version of its voluntary Visual-Manual Distraction Guidelines and provided specific guidance on how to conduct driver distraction testing (NHTSA, 2013). The guidelines provide evaluation criteria for determining whether a task should be available while driving, including specifications for participants to consist of four age groups ranging from 18 to 75. The present study examines the age criteria from the NHTSA Guidelines to determine which groups will most often provide outcomes resulting in a task being unavailable while driving. Additionally, this study compares industry employees with participants from the general public to judge whether consistent results can be found between both samples. The results indicate that the 55+ age group will be the most likely to result in a task being unavailable to the driver while driving. It was also possible to obtain consistent results between non-interface design employees and the general public. The implications for testing procedures and conclusions are discussed.

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