This paper represents an effort to conceptualise human factors in dynamic driving behaviour and to discuss within a systems framework the possible use of multichannel sensory input for highway information design. Most safety research in the past has suffered from a lack of theoretical orientation which led to the isolation of systems components for experimental manipulation and observation. The background for the systems concepts and analyses of driver performance presented here is a systems integration of findings in the neuropsychology of motion and perception, human tracking behaviour, biocybernetics and communication science. The individual is considered as a closed-loop feedback control system which generates a course of action and corrects the consequences by means of sensory feedback information. Within this context, driving is viewed as a closed-loop, feedback-regulated driver vehicle road tracking system with well-organised signal, force, spatial, temporal, and motion properties. Highway information display is an integral part of this tracking system. Exploration of sensory modes other than vision, which are presently under-utilised, could contribute to the improvement of highway information display and driver performance.
Abstract