The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has started the process to launch a driver simulator study to evaluate how truck drivers engage with trucks equipped with different levels of autonomous technology.
The agency states it plans to submit a request to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for the study titled “Human Factors Considerations in Commercial Motor Vehicle Automated Driving Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.”
FMCSA says the driving simulator would include a series of questionnaires to evaluate approximately 100 drivers and how they interact with trucks equipped with SAE International Level 2 advance driver assistance systems (ADAS) and Level 3 automated driving systems (ADS). The study would examine the effect of non-driving secondary task engagement, transfer of control, and training on driver behavior in CMVs equipped with ADAS and ADS, FMCSA states.
The agency notes that “higher levels of ADAS and lower levels of ADS present an environment that is ripe for overreliance.”
A Level 2 vehicle “offers longitudinal and lateral support to the driver; however, the driver is still responsible for driving at all times,” FMCSA states, adding that “at this level, engaging in non-driving secondary tasks can be highly detrimental to driving performance as the driver may not recognize and respond to hazards timely or appropriately.”
In a truck equipped with Level 3 ADS, “the role of distraction is blurred. L3 is the lowest level considered to be ADS,” the agency writes. “The driver takes on a more supervisory role and is in full control of the vehicle in a limited number of situations. When an L3 vehicle alerts the driver that a takeover is required, the driver needs to have situational awareness to resume full control of the vehicle. Engagement in non-driving secondary tasks may prevent the driver from maintaining situational awareness of the driving environment.”
FMCSA says the three primary goals for the data collection are:
- Determine the effect of distraction on CMV drivers of Level 2 vehicles
- Determine the effect of transfer of control on CMV drivers in Level 3 vehicles
- Develop and evaluate a training program that is designed to decrease the levels of distraction that were identified in CMV drivers in Level 2 vehicles and designed to improve the problems with the transfer of control that were identified in Level 3 vehicles
