The Information That Drivers Use: Is it Indeed 90% Visual?

The literature contains numerous claims that 90% of all the information used in driving is visual. This article presents a theoretical discussion, a citation search, and a review of evidence concerning such claims. The findings indicate that not only do we lack data from which to derive an accurate numerical estimate, but we lack a measurement system within which any numerical estimate would be meaningful. Consequently, although the information relevant to driving is likely to be predominantly visual, any claims about the precise percentage attributable to vision are premature. The proliferation of such claims in the absence of direct evidence is a reminder that researchers should be careful about assuring the validity of the claims they are passing on.

[1]  J. Gibson,et al.  A theoretical field-analysis of automobile-driving , 1938 .

[2]  G. A. Miller THE PSYCHOLOGICAL REVIEW THE MAGICAL NUMBER SEVEN, PLUS OR MINUS TWO: SOME LIMITS ON OUR CAPACITY FOR PROCESSING INFORMATION 1 , 1956 .

[3]  RESEARCH IN VISION AND TRAFFIC SAFETY , 1958 .

[4]  V. Byrnes Visual factors in automobile driving. , 1962, Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society.

[5]  R W Cumming The analysis of skills in driving , 1964 .

[6]  Ronald S Coppin,et al.  THE TOTALLY DEAF DRIVER IN CALIFORNIA , 1965 .

[7]  John W. Senders,et al.  THE ATTENTIONAL DEMAND OF AUTOMOBILE DRIVING , 1967 .

[8]  A J Gioia,et al.  EVALUATION OF DRIVER VISION , 1968 .

[9]  R. L. Moore SOME HUMAN FACTORS AFFECTING THE DESIGN OF VEHICLES AND ROADS , 1968 .

[10]  A J McKnight,et al.  DRIVER EDUCATION TASK ANALYSIS. VOLUME 1: TASK DESCRIPTIONS , 1970 .

[11]  T. Rockwell,et al.  Visual Information Seeking of Novice Drivers , 1970 .

[12]  B L Cole VISUAL ASPECTS OF ROAD ENGINEERING , 1972 .

[13]  Passenger noise environments of enclosed transportation systems , 1975 .

[14]  Walter W. Wierwille,et al.  The Influence of Motion and Audio Cues on Driver Performance in an Automobile Simulator , 1975 .

[15]  J C Fell A Motor Vehicle Accident Causal System: The Human Element , 1976, Human factors.

[16]  H. R. Booher,et al.  Effects of Visual and Auditory Impairment in Driving Performance , 1978, Human factors.

[17]  Michael L Matthews,et al.  The influence of vehicle type on the estimation of velocity while driving. , 1980, Ergonomics.

[18]  B. Hills Vision, Visibility, and Perception in Driving , 1980, Perception.

[19]  The driving environment and visual disability. , 1987, American journal of physical medicine.

[20]  D B Reuben,et al.  The Aging Driver Medicine, Policy, and Ethics , 1988, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[21]  R J Sojourner,et al.  The Effects of a Simulated Head-Up Display Speedometer on Perceptual Task Performance , 1990, Human factors.

[22]  T. Kline,et al.  Visibility Distance of Highway Signs among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Observers: Icons Are Better than Text , 1990, Human factors.

[23]  R A De Lorenzo,et al.  Lights and siren: a review of emergency vehicle warning systems. , 1991, Annals of emergency medicine.

[24]  R Troutbeck,et al.  Effect of restriction of the binocular visual field on driving performance , 1992, Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians.

[25]  Paul R. Niemi A System Approach to Safe Winter Driving Considerations: The Visual System , 1992 .

[26]  R. Sekuler,et al.  Vision, aging, and driving: the problems of older drivers. , 1992, Journal of gerontology.

[27]  J P Bull,et al.  The aging driver. , 1992, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.