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Pegasus

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RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINEVirtual tests yield real results when it comes to driver distractions.BY SARAH SEKULA, ’00

I have road rage.At least that’s what my sister tells

me. My aggressive driving tendenciesare clear in her eyes: I honk at driverswho cut in front of me; I shoot evil glances at reckless drivers weaving inand out of traffic; and, yes, I occasion-ally tailgate.

I hate to admit it, but my siblingis right this time. I recently filled outan aggressive driver questionnairecreated by UCF psychology professorsMustapha Mouloua, EdwardRinalducci and Edwin Shirkey and graduate students Meredith Bell andDavin Pavlas. My answers all point touber aggression.

The telling questionnaire is part of a study the professors conducted tomeasure the effects of these unsafedriving behaviors — and others like

rude gestures, flashing high beams atslower traffic and speeding — ondriving performance. It’s a pertinentstudy, especially when you consider aquarter of all traffic crashes arecaused by distractions, includingaggressive drivers, which annuallyaccount for 1.2 million incidents,according to research conducted bythe AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

Upon completing the question-naire, a test subject then hits the vir-tual roadways in high and moderate

traffic scenarios. The setup: a PC-baseddriving simulator affectionatelynamed “Midtown Madness,” completewith a steering wheel, central control buttons and floor pedals. Reviewersthen tally up the number of no-noscommitted like lane deviations, speedlimit violations or collisions.

In the end, the researchers found:

! significant correlations existed between traffic conditions and lanedeviations;

! the lane deviations correlated withseveral items on the questionnairesuch as tailgating, yelling insults orflashing brights to slower drivers;and

! collisions were significantly corre-lated with stress.

While further research is needed,the initial results clearly indicate thatthe questionnaire is a good predictorof driver performance.

Mouloua says the contributingfactors to road rage are widespread,including psychological, physical andenvironmental. An anger onslaughtcan be a result of the type of car youdrive. For example, someone puttingalong in a 1989 Dodge Caravan may very well be more perturbed thansomeone zipping along in a brand new Jaguar. Road rage can also come from

the distance you drive and the roads you take. Being stuck in a trafficsnafu versus humming along a ruralthoroughfare makes a big difference.

A more recent study that Moulouaand his students in the human factorsdoctoral program conducted focuses onmore pleasant distractions like chang-ing the radio station, yapping on yourcell phone or listening to an iPod. This

study measures the effects of thesedevices and other in-vehicle distractorsand how they affect driving perform-ance and workload.

In the iPod study a subject beginsthe driving simulation and simultane-ously must perform a specific tasksuch as firing up an iPod and choosingan artist and song or having a cellphone conversation.

“We found that those who use theiPod have an increased number of lane

This UCF student straps into an on-campus driving simulator and puts his steering prowess to the test.

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deviations, crossing the medians, leav-ing the road and so forth when com-pared to the phases of those not usingan iPod,” Mouloua says. “There areeven times when they crash into anoth-er car.”

Notably, he cites that the findingsshould provoke concern for lawenforcement, legislators, the automo-tive industry and, of course, thedevice manufacturers themselves.

What is the answer? Many statesthink outlawing in-vehicle devices,such as hand-held cell phones, is theway to go. Mouloua disagrees: “We believe banning is not the solution.”

In the cell phone study, resultsclearly show that hands-free devicesare not risk free. In fact, hands-freedevices are equally as distracting ashandheld devices.

Mouloua says it’s not about

whether you are holding the device

or not. It’s a combination of what you are seeing, what you are think-ing at the time and the conversationthat’s involved. These factors all take your attention away from the maintask at hand.

The studies don’t end there.The psychology department has threeGeneral Motors driving simulators —a step up from the PC-based version —that they plan on networking. Eachsimulator has a plush seat with seat belt, working dashboard and ignition,and three screens that provide a 150-degree perspective.

“We’re going to have three driv-ers with different levels of road rage[in the simulators] drive in the sameenvironment,” says Mouloua, enthu-siastically. “We’re going to see howwell they react to a variety of roadconditions, weather conditions and

so forth. It’s going to be cool.”

Mouloua and his team will alsotake a look at drivers’ brain wave activ-ity in order to index driver distraction.Overall, the team hopes its findingswill increase public awareness aboutthe dangers of driver distractions.

The intense look into aggressivedriving definitely had an impact onme. I am now a recovering championof road rage.

BITS & BYTES

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sychology professor and consummate researcher Mustapha Mouloua interacts daily with students in the simulation lab.

NO LONGER EASIERSAID THAN DONE

Our voice and hands are doing

much more these days than chit-chatting with friends and typing

on the computer. Through new

technologies being developed by

research at UCF and by companies

located in Metro Orlando, interac-

tive voice systems are operating

military aircraft and allowing

soldiers to easily communicate in

Iraq, while fingerprint ID software

is providing security measures for

our nation’s port workers and to

average citizens. A sampling of Orlando companies leading this

charge includes Adacel — leader

in aviation speech recognition

technology, ID Solutions —

provider of fingerprint ID software

and Vcom3D — creator of iPod-

based tools for soldiers and others.

For more innovative companies in MetroOrlando, visit www.OrlandoEDC.com.

PHOTOS:UCF PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT