SWOV researchers Rins de Zwart and Reinier Jansen coauthored an article that discusses assessing situation awareness in Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.
This article challenges the traditional use of situation awareness (SA) measures in driving safety assessments. Typically, higher levels of SA are seen as indicative of safer driving. However, this relative interpretation does not clarify whether a specific level of SA is inherently “safe” or “unsafe.”
The study explored a normative approach to SA, aiming to establish clear criteria for safe and unsafe driving. Through expert interviews, the study investigated the current relationship between SA and driving safety, theoretical foundations for a normative method, and steps towards defining an SA criterion.
The authors discuss methodological challenges and propose a weighted criterion-based approach. They emphasize the importance of selecting relevant SA requirements and differentiating their importance. An objective method to determine the relevance and weight of these requirements could enhance the effectiveness of SA measures in driving safety assessments.
