This chapter provides a descriptive background of the driving task. Specifically it deals with those aspects of the driving context that are of special relevance to the human driver. This context is structurally determined by the triad driver-vehicle-road and functionally by situation-action elements that are revealed by driving task analyses. In Section 2.3 the focus is on road infrastructure, environmental conditions, and traffic management. Here the question is what problems these components of the traffic system are known to create for the human driver and how they might be overcome by various kinds of support. Specifically the question is what environment-oriented support will most facilitate driving performance. In Section 2.4 the same question is raised with respect to the vehicle: what information is needed for vehicle operation to be as smooth and effective as possible? In the light of the GIDS project it is important to determine what aspects of the driving task are amenable to RTI-technology; after all, smart roads and smart vehicles will be dependent on smart drivers for a very long time to come. This topic is discussed in Section 2.5 and in the final section (Section 2.6) some conclusions are drawn. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD 859107.
Samenvatting