Driver compliance to take-over requests with different auditory outputs in conditional automation.

Conditionally automated driving (CAD) systems are expected to improve traffic safety. Whenever the CAD system exceeds its limit of operation, designers of the system need to ensure a safe and timely enough transition from automated to manual mode. An existing visual Human-Machine Interface (HMI) was supplemented by different auditory outputs.

Cooperative warning systems: The impact of false and unnecessary alarms on drivers' compliance.

Cooperative warning systems have a great potential to prevent traffic accidents. However, because of their predictive nature, they might also go along with an increased frequency of incorrect alarms that could limit their effectiveness. To better understand the consequences associated with incorrect alarms, a driving simulator study with N=80 drivers was conducted to investigate how situational context and warning urgency jointly influence drivers' compliance with an unreliable advisory warning system (AWS).

The alcohol-related accident risk in Germany: procedure, methods and results.

This paper presents the first reliable estimation of the alcohol-related accident risk in Germany by comparing a representative sample of accidents to a representative sample of trips not leading to a crash. The information about the trips was taken from the German Roadside Survey 1992-1994 (n=9087) conducted in Unterfranken, part of Bavaria. These data were weighted according to a representative study of driving in Germany (KONTIV 89).

How the presence of passengers influences the risk of a collision with another vehicle.

The risk of a collision with another vehicle due to the presence of passengers is analysed in detail in a large sample of accidents from Mittelfranken, Germany, from the years 1984 to 1997. Using a responsibility analysis, the overall effect of the presence of passengers and the influence of modifying variables is examined. While a general protective effect of the presence of passengers is found, this is reduced in young drivers, during darkness, in slow traffic and at crossroads, especially when disregarding the right of way and passing a car.

Detecting intoxicated drivers in Germany -- estimating the effectiveness of police tests.

The most important prerequisite for deterring people from driving while intoxicated is to persuade them of the likelihood of being detected by the police. Detection requires the police (1) to stop intoxicated drivers and (2) to detect the intoxication. The latter is not a simple task in Germany as the police is only allowed to obtain a breath sample when indications of an intoxication are present.