Effects of levels of automation and non-driving related tasks on driver performance and workload: A review of literature and meta-analysis

Abstract

This study assessed the effects of different levels of automation and non-driving related tasks (NDRT) on driver performance and workload. A systematic literature review was conducted in March 2021 using Compendex, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Forty-five studies met the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was conducted and Cochrane risk of bias tool and Cochran's Q test were used to assess risk of bias and homogeneity of the effect sizes respectively. Results suggested that drivers exhibited safer performance when dealing with critical incidents in manual driving than partially automated driving (PAD) and highly automated driving (HAD) conditions. However, drivers reported higher workload in the manual driving mode as compared to the HAD and PAD conditions. Haptic, auditory, and visual-auditory takeover request modalities are preferred over the visual-only modality to improve takeover time. Use of handheld NDRTs significantly degraded driver performance as compared to NDRTs performed on mounted devices.

Keywords: Driver; Level of automation; Performance; Takeover; Workload.