Situation Awareness: a Holistic Approach to the Driver Distraction Problem

June 2011
5 pages

Situation Awareness: a Holistic Approach to the Driver Distraction Problem

There is little doubt that using a cell phone while driving is dangerous, but this practice is only a small part of the problem: 5% of distraction-related accidents resulting in injury, and 18% of these accidents resulting in death. A holistic approach to the problem of driver distraction could be more effective than prohibitions on any one activity, such as cell phone use. Situation Awareness can provide a framework for understanding and reducing driver distraction, whatever its cause.

Contents

The Driver Distraction Problem — It's Not Just the Phones — Situation Awareness — The Situation Awareness Model and Types of Driver Distraction— Optimizing Situation Awareness with a Connected and Integrated Cockpit — Benefits of a Situation Aware Vehicle Cockpit [+]

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Author
Andy Gryc
agryc@qnx.com

Andy Gryc

Andy Gryc [Grits] has been a software developer and designer for over 20 years, and is currently a senior product marketing manager at QNX.

Prior to joining QNX Software Systems, he worked as the lead embedded software architect for GM OnStar; designed and implemented a speech recognition engine for a speech technology company; and served as a member of the Hewlett-Packard team that created the software for palmtops and the BIOS for the Omnibook notebooks.

As well a contributing regularly to the QNX whitepaper and webinar programs, Andy writes a blog, True Gryc, "about the automotive market, the embedded industry, being an honorary Canadian, and any other stray neuron that happens to fire". He holds a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan, and, as his blog blurb states, has recently moved to QNX headquarters in Canada.

Author
Scott Pennock
spennock@qnx.com

Scott Pennock

Scott Pennock is Senior Hands-Free Standards Specialist at QNX.

Before joining QNX, he was a Lead Acoustic Test Engineer at Apple, a Senior Systems Engineer at OnStar researching speech enhancement technologies, and a Speech Technologies Specialist at Lucent, also working on speech enhancment technologies.

He holds a B.S. in Experimental/Cognitive Psychology from Michigan State University, and an Masters degree in Applied Psychology from the Stevens Institute of Technology.