Influence of risk expectation on haptically cued corrective manoeuvres during near lane departure

Some driving devices are designed to prevent road departures. One such device, motor priming (MP), provides small pulses to the steering wheel towards the lane centre, without correcting the trajectory itself. Compared with the other lane departure warning systems, its higher efficacy has been demonstrated; it is hypothesised that this relies on the action of haptic cues at the sensorimotor level (Navarro, J., Mars, F., and Hoc, J.M., 2007. Lateral control assistance for car drivers: a comparison of motor priming and warning systems. Human Factors, 49 (5), 950-960). The way in which corrective manoeuvres, primed by MP, can be influenced by processes that operate at higher levels of cognitive control, such as risk evaluation, is an issue. Results showed that MP improved all indicators of steering efficiency, starting with reaction times. Risk expectation and situation analysis did not influence reaction times but came into play soon after the corrective manoeuvre was initiated. Thus, although MP triggered the response at the sensorimotor level, higher levels of cognition (symbolic control) quickly modulated the execution of the corrective manoeuvre.

This paper showed that corrective manoeuvres following directional pulses on the steering wheel (motor priming) are modulated by risk expectation. The conclusion may be of interest for designers of haptics-based automation such as lane departure warning and lane keeping assistance systems.