An on-road study involving two vehicles: observed differences between an auditory and haptic lane departure warning system

This research examined, as an exploratory secondary analysis, the frequency of lane departure warnings in two commercially available vehicles and users' behavioral and physiological responses to the alarms. The two lane departure systems used different alerting mechanisms. One provided an auditory alert, while the other activated haptic stimulation through the steering wheel. Results show that both systems trigger an increase of steering wheel movement following an alert, with some evidence for, on average, a faster response to the system with the haptic alert. There was also a significant difference in the frequency of alerts between the systems. Results suggest the need for further work focused on developing a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of various implementations of these potentially lifesaving warning systems under field conditions.