Driver distraction from a control theory perspective

Distraction from cell phones, navigation systems, information/entertainment systems, and other driver-interactive devices now finding their way into the highway vehicles is a serious national safety concern. However, driver distraction is neither well defined nor well understood. In an effort to bring some better definition to the problem, a framework is proposed based on the ideas of control theory. Loci and causes of distraction are represented as disturbances to various functional elements of a control loop involving driver intending (goal setting), sensing, deciding on control response, dynamics of the vehicle, and human body activation and energetics. It is argued that activation should be classed separately from the other functions. Attention switching from environmental observation/control to internal device manipulation is modeled as sampled-data control. Also fit within the control framework are mental modeling and anticipation of events in the driver's preview. The control framework is shown to suggest some salient research questions and experiments. Actual or potential applications of this research include a refined understanding of driver distraction and better modeling and prediction of driving performance as a function of vehicle and highway design.