The influence of distractions on driver response time: an erp pilot study

Millions of people worldwide are affected by motor vehicle accidents each year, with driver distractions identified as their foremost cause. This paper examines the influence of distraction types on driver response time as well as on neural activity in the brain. Ten subjects participated in this computer based simulation study, with three distraction conditions (Cognitive distraction, Visual distraction and Audio distraction) and a No distraction condition that served as the baseline for comparison. A 64 Channel Neuroscan EEG/ERP system was used to record the neural activity of the subjects. Mean response time increased for all distraction conditions when compared with the baseline. In addition, significant changes were observed in the ERP patterns for the Cognitive and Visual distraction conditions. These results provide insight into the strength of the various distractions with implications for driver training, accident analysis, and accident prevention.