Effect of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems on Fatigue Levels of Heavy Truck Drivers in Prolonged Driving Tasks

Abstract:

Previous research in the passenger car domain has found that drivers using advanced driver assistance system （ADAS） are more likely to experience fatigue compared to manual driving. Therefore， it is necessary to investigate the impact of ADAS on the fatigue levels of truck drivers during long-haul driving. Based on over 120 h of naturalistic driving experiments， multiple psychophysiological indicators （such as heart rate， heart rate variability， etc.） were used to compare the fatigue levels of heavy truck drivers when manually driving vehicles and when driving vehicles with ADAS. The average heart rate， respiratory rate， respiratory depth， and pupil diameter of drivers driving with ADAS are all higher than those under manual driving. When driving with ADAS， the drivers’ root mean square of continuous RR interval， low to high frequency ratio， blink frequency， blink duration and PERCLOS are all lower than those under manual driving. When the driver is driving manually， the reaction time will increase by 0.032 s for every 2 hours. When the driver is driving with ADAS， the reaction time does not change significantly with the increase of driving time. The fatigue levels of heavy truck drivers when driving vehicles with ADAS are lower than when manually driving， providing theoretical support for the safe use of ADAS in heavy trucks.

Key words:traffic safety;advanced driver assistance system （ADAS）;heavy truck drivers;driving fatigue