Abstract
As freeway interchanges and other highway design features increase in complexity and sophistication, the limit of man's ability to perceive and process information is approached. Current freeway speed zones and requirements for sign information processing, coupled with planned changes in each of these areas, suggests that the driver may not be left with sufficient spare time to look for and avoid accidents. Drivers today need that extra margin of safety, and it can frequently be provided by highway design. This research is concerned with the development of a driver workload model. The essential purpose of the model is to predict how busy a driver will be while driving on highways of varying design. The model may be used to assist a designer in evaluating a proposed roadway design for the purpose of identifying and alleviating unacceptable workload imposed on the driver by the roadway. After a review of the current literature, the author concluded that sufficient data sources existed for the development of a driver workload model. To increase the usefulness of the model, however, two studies were carried out. The objectives of the research were to determine: a.) driver overload point for different combinations of tracking and discrete workload, b.) the relationship between predicted stress and the percent of the operator's attention demanded by a task, c.) the amount of steering workload imposed on a driver by different maneuvers at varying speeds, and d.) how the average driver steers a car in a highway lane. ...
McDonald, Larry Bruce (1973). A model for predicting driver workload in the freeway environment: a feasibility study. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -157012.