Test Procedures for Evaluating Distraction Potential in Connected Vehicle Systems

The purpose of this project was two-fold: to develop test procedures that can be used with production vehicles and nomadic technologies to assess distraction potential and usability, and to provide guidelines for interpretation and decision-making about the testing outcomes.
This project consisted of interviewing potential users of the technologies, conducting driving studies on two low-cost driving simulators, and testing on a closed-course track. Several in-vehicle displays were installed to replicate potential connected vehicle functions, and researchers recorded and analyzed the effects on driver performance.