Drivers are more likely to multitask when using partial automation, and some manage to do so even while playing by the rules of the systems’ attention requirements, new research from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows.
“These results are a good reminder of the way people learn,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “If you train them to think that paying attention means nudging the steering wheel every few seconds, then that’s exactly what they’ll do.”
Drivers were much more likely to check their phones, eat a sandwich or do other visual-manual activities while using Volvo’s Pilot Assist partial automation system than when driving unassisted, a monthlong study of driver behavior that IIHS conducted with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab showed.
To read the complete article on the IIHS website, click here.
