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Published on: December 18, 2020
Effects of performing work-related secondary tasks during simulated driving: Comparison of text/voicemail and virtual
Christopher Irwin1,2, Matthew Stainer1,2, John Seccombe1,2
1School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia.
Objective:
Driving has a heightened risk profile in occupational contexts. Increasingly, vehicles are being viewed as an extension of the workplace, with connectivity features enabling employees to remain contactable and even participate in virtual meetings while behind the wheel. This study examined the effects of performing two different secondary tasks (engaging with text/voice messages vs. virtual conference meeting) on drivers' visual attention and vehicle control during simulated occupational driving.
Methods:
Fifty-two licensed drivers completed three drives in a fixed-base driving simulator: (1) baseline drive (no secondary task); (2) reading and listening to text/voice messages; and (3) engaging in a Microsoft Teams meeting, each embedded within a simulated workplace scenario. Outcomes included visual scanning data (i.e., looks to roadway, tablet, instrument cluster), driving performance (i.e., SDLP, time headway), and subjective reporting of workload and anxiety. Data were analyzed using linear and generalized linear mixed-effects models, with exploratory moderation analyses for gender, license class, driver thrill-seeking scale (DTSS) and multi-tasking preference (MPI) scores.
Results:
Both secondary tasks elevated subjective workload and anxiety relative to baseline, with females reporting higher workload and anxiety across all driving conditions. Visual attention to the roadway and instrument cluster were significantly reduced in both secondary tasks. However, this was more pronounced in males, provisional (P2) license holders, and drivers with higher DTSS scores during the Teams meeting task. Drivers also made more frequent and longer off-road glances, including more glances exceeding 2 s during both secondary task conditions. SDLP was significantly greater during the Teams meeting condition than both baseline and the text/voice messages condition, while time headway increased only during the text/voice messages condition, suggesting a compensatory response in car-following that was not observed during the Teams meeting drive.
Conclusions:
Work-related secondary tasks, even when largely passive, were associated with reduced visual attention to the roadway, increased off-road glance behavior and changes in aspects of vehicle control during simulated driving. These findings suggest that performing connectivity-based work-related secondary tasks while driving may pose risks to safe driving and warrant further investigation in representative occupational driving populations.
