The Influence of Visual-Manual Distractions on Anticipatory Driving

He, Dengbo; Donmez, Birsen · 2022 · Human Factors

DOI: 10.1177/0018720820938893

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Summary

This study investigates how visual-manual distractions affect anticipatory driving behaviors in novice and experienced drivers. While previous research established that experienced drivers exhibit superior hazard perception and anticipatory actions when driving is the sole task, the impact of concurrent visual-manual secondary tasks on these high-level cognitive competencies remained underexplored. The authors aimed to determine if such distractions degrade anticipatory driving and whether driving experience mitigates these effects. The researchers conducted a driving simulator experiment using a 2 × 2 between-subjects design with 32 participants: 16 novice drivers (less than three years of experience) and 16 experienced drivers (at least eight years of experience). Half of the participants performed a self-paced visual-manual secondary task involving word selection on a dashboard display, while the other half drove without distraction. Participants completed four scenarios designed to elicit anticipatory actions, such as slowing down or changing lanes in response to cues like brake lights or merging vehicles. Data collection included eye-tracking metrics to analyze glance behaviors toward anticipatory cues, the road, and the secondary task, as well as video recordings to identify pre-event control actions. Results indicated that experienced drivers exhibited more anticipatory actions and more efficient visual scanning behaviors, characterized by higher glance rates and longer durations focused on relevant cues, compared to novices. However, the presence of the secondary task reduced anticipatory actions and attention toward anticipatory cues for both groups. Notably, experienced drivers demonstrated lower odds of engaging in long glances (>2 seconds) toward the secondary task compared to novices, suggesting better management of distraction engagement. Additionally, incorporating glance duration on anticipatory cues improved the predictive accuracy of models estimating anticipatory actions. The findings confirm that visual-manual distractions impair anticipatory driving regardless of experience level, but experienced drivers maintain more efficient attention allocation strategies even when distracted. These results highlight the critical role of driving experience in managing perceptual resources during complex tasks. The study implies that in-vehicle system designs should account for the cognitive load imposed by visual-manual interactions, and driver training programs should emphasize strategies to support anticipatory driving under distracted conditions.

Key finding

Visual-manual secondary tasks impede anticipatory driving for both novice and experienced drivers, although experienced drivers maintain more efficient visual attention allocation and exhibit fewer risky long glances toward the distraction.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 32

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• visual
• temporal
• anticipation
• visual manual
• manual
• external distraction

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data
• Methodological Resource: measurement protocol
• Theoretical Contribution: theory or model