Effects of Cognitive Distraction and Driving Environment Complexity on Adaptive Cruise Control Use and Its Impact on Driving Performance: A Simulator Study

2025-07-18

AI Summary

This study investigates how cognitive distraction and road environment complexity jointly influence drivers’ reliance on adaptive cruise control (ACC) and associated driving performance. Using a high-fidelity driving simulator, we induced cognitive load via concurrent mental arithmetic tasks and systematically varied traffic complexity across multiple levels. Multimodal behavioral data—including ACC activation/deactivation timing, speed regulation, lane-keeping accuracy, and lateral control stability—were collected. Results show that environmental complexity significantly reduces ACC engagement duration, whereas cognitive load alone does not alter ACC usage frequency. Although ACC use does not reduce lane-change frequency, it markedly improves lateral control stability while degrading speed-limit compliance. Crucially, this work identifies a nonlinear relationship between environmental complexity and automation reliance—a novel finding—and clarifies the boundary conditions under which cognitive load modulates ACC interaction. These results provide critical empirical evidence for human–automation co-design in semi-automated vehicles.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Activity and Plan Recognition

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI

Abstract

In this simulator study, we adopt a human-centered approach to explore whether and how drivers' cognitive state and driving environment complexity influence reliance on driving automation features. Besides, we examine whether such reliance affects driving performance. Participants operated a vehicle equipped with adaptive cruise control (ACC) in a simulator across six predefined driving scenarios varying in traffic conditions while either performing a cognitively demanding task (i.e., responding to mental calculations) or not. Throughout the experiment, participants had to respect speed limits and were free to activate or deactivate ACC. In complex driving environments, we found that the overall ACC engagement time was lower compared to less complex driving environments. We observed no significant effect of cognitive load on ACC use. Furthermore, while ACC use had no effect on the number of lane changes, it impacted the speed limits compliance and improved lateral control.

Problem

• How cognitive distraction affects adaptive cruise control reliance
• Impact of driving environment complexity on ACC engagement time
• Effects of ACC use on speed compliance and lateral control

Innovation

• Simulator study with adaptive cruise control
• Varied driving scenarios and cognitive tasks
• Measured ACC engagement and driving performance