H O L D    T H E    D A T E!

Dr Nagendra R Velaga will speak in a CTS seminar on Friday 6 March, at 1:30 p.m. in Skempton 207. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!
Influence of driver distraction on driving performance
A special distinguished seminar from Centre for Transport Studies and Urban Systems Laboratory

Date and Time: Friday, March 6th, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Location: Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Skempton Building, Room 207

Abstract: Advancement in technology has resulted in extended use of digital devices such as phones and music player during driving, which require visual and cognitive driving attention. Other everyday behaviours such as eating and drinking during driving, also result in distraction-induced driving. The present study aims to examine the effects of four distractions: using a phone, a music player, eating and drinking during driving using a driving simulator. Driving performance data of 190 participants was collected for the simulated experiments. Survival analysis was done for modelling reaction times and generalized linear mixed models were considered for modelling mean speed and accident probability. Results showed that the presence of phone distraction was the main reason for drivers' slow response to sudden events, reduction in speed, and increased accident probability in a rural scenario. Further, the effects of music listening, eating and drinking during driving were investigated. Reaction time increased by 39%, 72% and 43% while performing the music listening, eating and drinking tasks during driving. With respect to the urban mid-block section, results showed that the reaction time increased by 42%, 113% and 62% due to the presence of conversation, texting and music player operations respectively. Drivers' stop/cross decisions at the yellow onset were analysed and compared for the effects of phone conversation and music player operations. Odds of crossing an intersection were 17% lesser for music player distraction than the phone conversation. Eating and drinking tasks reduced the stopping time by 6% and 7%. For crossing encounters, eating task caused 12% increment in crossing time compared to the baseline driving. Overall, the study suggests that the casual attitude for operating music player, eating and drinking during driving can prove fatal for the drivers as well as for other road users.
Keywords: Distraction; Driving simulator; Mobile phone; Music player; Eating; Drinking.

About the speaker: Dr Nagendra R Velaga<https://www.civil.iitb.ac.in/~velaga/> is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, and has been associated with the institute since 2013. He has supervised several graduate and undergraduate students. He has been the Principal Investigator (PI) for projects sponsored by European Union (EU-India Research and Innovation Partnership), The Ministry of Human Resource Development, India and Science and Engineering Research Board, India, among many others. He has published in the leading international journals such as: IEEE transactions in Intelligent Transport Systems; Transportation Research Part C - Emerging technologies; Accident Analysis & Prevention; Journal of Computing in Civil engineering (ASCE); Journal of Transport Geography; Habitat International; Transportation Research Part F etc. He is also a reviewer for various prestigious international journals, including Transportation Research Part C: Emerging technologies (Also editorial board member), Journal of Advanced Transportation, Journal of Transport Geography, Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Technology, Planning, and Operations, Transportmetrica, Advances in Transportation Studies, Information Sciences, Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory, Sensors, Public Transport, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Energy Research and Social Science, Engineering Project Organization Journal, Journal of Advanced Transportation, The Journal of Urban Technology, Engineering Project Organization Journal, Transportation Letters and, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.
Campus map: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/visit/public/SouthKensingtonCampus.pdf

Hope to see you there!

Abhilash C. Singh
CTS - Imperial College London
Ph.D. Student

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