DRIVER DISTRACTION ASSOCIATED WITH MOBILE PHONE TACTILE TASKS: A DRIVING SIMULATOR-BASED STUDY

Mohd Siam, Mohd Firdaus; Ab. Rashid, Ahmad Azad; Ibrahim, Mohd Khairul Alhapiz; Hamzah, Azhar · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.35631/jistm.1041008

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Summary

This study investigates the impact of mobile phone tactile tasks on driver distraction, specifically measuring response times under varying task complexities and traffic conditions. Motivated by high road fatality rates in Malaysia and the prevalence of mobile phone use while driving, the research aims to quantify how secondary tasks divert attention from primary driving objectives. The study addresses a gap in local literature regarding specific distraction metrics linked to character input length and traffic scenarios. The experiment utilized a fixed-base driving simulator with 54 licensed participants, stratified by gender and age into novice (18–24 years, <4 years experience) and experienced (30–59 years, >10 years experience) groups. Participants performed a Detection Response Task (DRT), pressing a button on the steering wheel in response to random tactile stimuli, while simultaneously entering text into a mobile phone. The secondary tasks involved entering character strings of varying lengths: 2, 5, 9, 14, and 20 characters. These tasks were conducted across three driving scenarios: free flow at 40 km/h with no traffic, free flow at 40 km/h with medium traffic, and traffic jams. Data collection included pre- and post-simulator sickness assessments and subjective workload ratings. Results indicated that distraction increased significantly with task complexity. As the number of characters entered increased, the percentage of stimuli responded to decreased, and response times increased significantly compared to baseline driving. Traffic conditions also significantly affected performance; drivers exhibited the highest response times and lowest stimulus detection rates during traffic jams, indicating greater distraction in congested environments compared to free-flow conditions. Regarding demographic factors, novice drivers demonstrated significantly faster response times than experienced drivers, although this difference was attributed to age-related motor speed rather than superior driving safety or attentional control. Gender differences in response time were not statistically significant. The findings suggest that mobile phone tactile tasks impose substantial attentional demands that degrade driving performance, with effects exacerbated by complex traffic conditions and longer text inputs. The study concludes that driver experience does not mitigate the distraction caused by dual-tasking, challenging assumptions that experienced drivers are less susceptible to such impairments. The results highlight the need for caution regarding mobile phone use, particularly in congested traffic, and underscore the limitations of relying on driver experience to ensure safety during distracted driving. The authors note that while simulator results provide internally valid estimates, further field studies are necessary to confirm these effects in real-world contexts.

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Topics

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• visual manual
• mobile phones
• temporal
• manual
• visual
• distraction detection algorithms

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data, observational prevalence
• Methodological Resource: measurement protocol