Neuroscience
Harming innocent bystanders when racing to answer an emergency call is every police driver’s worst nightmare. Sadly such incidents, though rare, are on the increase. David Crundall and colleagues at the University of Nottingham investigated the suggestion that when they’re driving at speed, police drivers focus too much on the road ahead, neglecting to look out adequately for hazards all around them.
A group of trained police drivers and civilian drivers watched a series of 60-second video clips showing a normal drive, a police chase, and a police emergency call, all from the driver’s perspective. They had to continuously rate the level of hazard, as they judged it, using a sliding scale. Meanwhile the researchers monitored their eye movements to see where they were looking.
During the emergency call clips, the police and civilian drivers focused far more on the road directly ahead (at the ‘point of expansion’) than they did during the normal drive clips. “This is understandable in terms of the driver trying to obtain as much preview of their current course as possible, though the inevitable reduced attention to peripheral sources of hazards may be a cause for concern”, the researchers said.
During the chase clips, the civilian drivers who were more experienced tended to overly focus on the fleeing car, rather than all around. In contrast, and probably a sign of their training, this was far less the case for the police drivers who continued to look out for other potential hazards, like pedestrians. However, they did neglect to look at side roads as much as they did during the normal drive. The less experienced civilian drivers also focused less on the target car, but they spent the rest of the time looking at things like road markings rather than potential hazards.
“…it is hoped these data will help to form a foundation from which we can begin to understand the visual skills that are required for safe police driving”, the researchers concluded.
_________________________________
Crundall, D., Chapman, P., France, E., Underwood, G. & Phelps, N. (2005). What attracts attention during police pursuit driving? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 409-420.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Drivers Are Territorial About Their Cars
Psychologists have examined the way people see their cars as part of their territory. Graham Fraine and colleagues conducted focus groups with a cross-section of 89 participants, from young, novice drivers to more experienced people who drive vehicles...
- How Your Mindset Can Cause A Traffic Accident
There's a storm of sensory information out there in the world but your brain can only process so much at once. To cope, it's armed with an attentional spotlight that allows you to focus on what you're interested in and ignore the rest. This...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Adhd Drivers
Reimer B, D'Ambrosio LA, Coughlin JF, Fried R, & Biederman J. Task-induced fatigue and collisions in adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Traffic Inj Prev. 2007 Sep; 8(3): 290-299. AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,...
- Mind Not On The Road?
If you're driving and talking on a cell phone, your mind isn't on the road. Period. And the problem isn't the the physical act of dialing, holding the phone, or listening to the person on the other end. The impairment comes from speaking;...
- Wanted: Law Enforcement Interns
Chesterfield County Police Department is recruiting summer interns for the Summer of 2012. Chesterfield County is a FIRST CHOICE suburban community located outside of the capital city of Richmond Virginia. The following internship positions are currently...
Neuroscience
Keep your eyes off the road
Harming innocent bystanders when racing to answer an emergency call is every police driver’s worst nightmare. Sadly such incidents, though rare, are on the increase. David Crundall and colleagues at the University of Nottingham investigated the suggestion that when they’re driving at speed, police drivers focus too much on the road ahead, neglecting to look out adequately for hazards all around them.
A group of trained police drivers and civilian drivers watched a series of 60-second video clips showing a normal drive, a police chase, and a police emergency call, all from the driver’s perspective. They had to continuously rate the level of hazard, as they judged it, using a sliding scale. Meanwhile the researchers monitored their eye movements to see where they were looking.
During the emergency call clips, the police and civilian drivers focused far more on the road directly ahead (at the ‘point of expansion’) than they did during the normal drive clips. “This is understandable in terms of the driver trying to obtain as much preview of their current course as possible, though the inevitable reduced attention to peripheral sources of hazards may be a cause for concern”, the researchers said.
During the chase clips, the civilian drivers who were more experienced tended to overly focus on the fleeing car, rather than all around. In contrast, and probably a sign of their training, this was far less the case for the police drivers who continued to look out for other potential hazards, like pedestrians. However, they did neglect to look at side roads as much as they did during the normal drive. The less experienced civilian drivers also focused less on the target car, but they spent the rest of the time looking at things like road markings rather than potential hazards.
“…it is hoped these data will help to form a foundation from which we can begin to understand the visual skills that are required for safe police driving”, the researchers concluded.
_________________________________
Crundall, D., Chapman, P., France, E., Underwood, G. & Phelps, N. (2005). What attracts attention during police pursuit driving? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 19, 409-420.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Drivers Are Territorial About Their Cars
Psychologists have examined the way people see their cars as part of their territory. Graham Fraine and colleagues conducted focus groups with a cross-section of 89 participants, from young, novice drivers to more experienced people who drive vehicles...
- How Your Mindset Can Cause A Traffic Accident
There's a storm of sensory information out there in the world but your brain can only process so much at once. To cope, it's armed with an attentional spotlight that allows you to focus on what you're interested in and ignore the rest. This...
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Adhd Drivers
Reimer B, D'Ambrosio LA, Coughlin JF, Fried R, & Biederman J. Task-induced fatigue and collisions in adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Traffic Inj Prev. 2007 Sep; 8(3): 290-299. AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,...
- Mind Not On The Road?
If you're driving and talking on a cell phone, your mind isn't on the road. Period. And the problem isn't the the physical act of dialing, holding the phone, or listening to the person on the other end. The impairment comes from speaking;...
- Wanted: Law Enforcement Interns
Chesterfield County Police Department is recruiting summer interns for the Summer of 2012. Chesterfield County is a FIRST CHOICE suburban community located outside of the capital city of Richmond Virginia. The following internship positions are currently...