The Discomfort of Riding Shotgun - Why Many People Don't Like to Be Co-driver

Development and evaluation of passenger assistance system concepts to reduce passenger discomfort

The front seat passenger is often neglected when developing support systems for cars. There exist few examples of systems that provide information or interaction possibilities specifically to those passengers. Previous research indicated that the passive role of the passenger can frequently lead to a feeling of discomfort, potentially caused by missing information and missing control with respect to the driving situation. This paper investigates if and how different aspects of cognitive processes as defined in a previously published model can be approached with a technical system to reduce discomfort in passengers. Five prototypical passenger assistance systems are created which provide missing information (for example about the attentiveness of the driver) or the possibility to have more influence as a passenger. In a static simulator study with N = 40 participants, these systems were investigated with respect to their influence on measures of discomfort. Participants experienced in a counterbalanced order car following and braking scenarios on the highway with different time headways (within-subjects), with and without one of the passenger assistance systems (between-subjects). Based on the subjective measures for each experienced situation, three systems were identified as particularly useful in reducing discomfort. These displayed the attentiveness of the driver, the safety distance to a vehicle in front or provided the possibility to signal the driver that the recent safety distance is too small. These best proposals significantly reduced passenger discomfort in the tested Following and Braking scenarios for different time headways. In the post inquiry, more than 64% of the passengers confirmed the helpfulness of the rated system in reducing their discomfort in each case and about 75% of the passengers reported an interest in using it in their vehicle. This demonstrates opportunities to improve the everyday driving experience beyond classical assistance systems by explicitly considering the needs of passengers.

User Evaluation of Passenger Assistance System Concepts on Public Highways

There is ample research on assistance systems for drivers in conventional and automated vehicles. In the past, those systems were developed to increase safety but also to increase driver comfort. Since many common risks have by now been mitigated through such systems, the research and development focus expanded to also include comfort-related assistance. However, the passenger has rarely been taken into account explicitly, although it has been shown that passenger discomfort is a relevant problem. Therefore, this work investigated the potential of passenger assistance systems to reduce such discomfort. Three different passenger assistant system prototypes were tested in a driving study on public highway with N = 19 participants. The systems provided information about parameters related to the performance of the driver and one additionally provided a communicative means of influence. For two passenger assistant systems, it could be shown that they significantly reduced passenger discomfort in at least a subset of the evaluated situations. The majority of participants rated one or multiple of the assistant systems as more comfortable than a ride without assistance. The system providing information about the attentiveness of the driver was most effective in reducing discomfort and was rated as the most helpful system. The results show that explicitly considering the situation of passengers in the design of assistance systems can positively impact their comfort. This can be achieved using information from common systems targeting driver assistance available to the passenger.

The Discomfort of Riding Shotgun - Why Many People Don't Like to Be Co-driver

This work investigates which conditions lead to co-driver discomfort aside from classical motion sickness, what characterizes uncomfortable situations, and why these conditions have a negative effect. The automobile is called a “passenger vehicle” as its main purpose is the transportation of people. However, passengers in the car are rarely considered in research concerning driving discomfort. The few studies in this area focus on driver discomfort, automated vehicles, or driver assistant systems. An earlier public survey indicated that discomfort is also a relevant problem for co-drivers. In this paper, these results are confirmed and extended through an online questionnaire with N = 119 participants and a detailed follow-up interview study with N = 24 participants was conducted. The results of the online questionnaire show that co-driver discomfort is a widespread problem (88%). The interviews indicate that the driving style is one factor contributing to co-driver discomfort, in particular close following or fast driving. In those situations, participants experienced a feeling of being exposed, which additionally contributed to their discomfort. Uncomfortable situations were also perceived as safety critical. A model for possible cognitive origins of discomfort in co-drivers, extending theories from the areas of stress and self-regulation, is developed based on the results. Co-driver discomfort is a common problem, highlighting the relevance of further research on supporting co-drivers. The reported correlations and the proposed model can help to explain the origin of this discomfort. The results provide a foundation for the future design of interventions like human machine interfaces aiming at reducing co-driver discomfort.