The impact of trust on driver response to forward collision warning systems

This thesis reports five studies that investigate the impact of trust on driver response to forward collision warning systems (FCWS). The experiments, while self-contained were conceived to relate together in a cohesive way. The first three studies investigated the relationship between alarm timing and driver performance in collision situations in a broad range of driving conditions. These studies also established trust models describing changes in driver subjective ratings of trust in response to alarm timing. It was found that an early alarm timing led to quick braking reaction times, resulting from prompt accelerator release. A middle alarm timing induced more consistent braking response than a control condition in which no alarms were presented. A late alarm timing had the potential to delay braking response when driving with long time headways. With respect to trust, early alarm timings induced higher levels of trust than late or middle alarm timings. Moreover the results suggest that the conflict between driver expectation of alarm performance and actual alarm timing results in decreased trust. [Continues.]