Visual and steering behaviours during lane departures: a longitudinal study of interactions between lane departure warning system, driving task and driving experience

Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) generate a warning in case of imminent lane departure. LDWS have proven to be effective and associated human-machine cooperation modelled. In this study, LDWS acceptance and its impact on visual and steering behaviour have been investigated over 6 weeks for novice and experienced drivers. Unprovoked lane departures were analysed along three driving tasks gradually more demanding. These observations were compared to a baseline condition without automation. The number of lane departures and their duration were dramatically reduced by LDWS, and a narrower visual spread of search during lane departure events was recorded. The findings confirmed LDWS effectiveness and suggested that these benefits are supported by visuo-attentional guidance. No specific influence of driving experience on LDWS was found, suggesting that similar cognitive processes are engaged with or without driving experience. Drivers' acceptance of LDWS lowered after automation use, but LDWS effectiveness remained stable during prolonged use.Practitioner summary: Lane Departure Warning Systems (LDWS) have been designed to prevent lane departure crashes. Here, LDWS assessment over a 6-week period showed a major drop in the number of lane departure events increasing over time. LDWS effectiveness is supported by the guidance of drivers' visual attention during lane departure events.