Driver performance in the presence of drones
Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS), or drones, are picking up in popularity, with over 1.5 million drones registered in the United States to date. Used by researchers, industry personnel, and photographers alike, these machines continue to be flown across the nation in a variety of areas, for a number of reasons. While the Federal Aviation Administration has set regulations on drone flights, no regulations are in place regarding drone flights near roadways.
To understand the implications of drone flights near drivers, this research study evaluated driver performance in these situations in a controlled driving simulator environment.
Study Setup
A driving simulator experiment and survey were developed to investigate this relationship. The primary objective of this study was to examine how driver attention is influenced by drone presence at varying heights on the roadside, with and without operators present. A total of 24 participants completed the study in the Arbella Insurance Human Performance Laboratory.
Participants completed several short drive scenarios of varying operator and drone presence/heights, from 20 feet to 60 feet above ground level, followed by a questionnaire. An example of a driving scenario is presented in the image below. One primary strength of the driving simulator is the ability to control the entirety of the driving environment; thus, only the study variables were changed between drive scenarios.
The drone design used in all driving scenarios was obtained through collaboration with researchers in the Hurwitz Research Program at the University of Oregon. They studied driver distraction in varying situations of land use, lateral offset, and flight pattern, another study worth checking out on this topic.
Driver Performance
In 11% of all analyzed scenarios from this study, drivers kept their visual gaze on the drone or operators for more than two seconds continuously without checking the roadway. This is a notable finding, as these glances double the risk of a crash or near crash. Further, multiple glances during a single drive scenario were made by drivers, creating a problematic safety issue. This shows that drones create visually distracting environments, which impact a driver’s ability to anticipate hazards.
No driver distraction differences were found between any drone flight heights. Drones flown at 20 feet above ground level were just as visually distracting as those at 60 feet.
The questionnaire revealed that 29% of participants acknowledged that the drone was “distracting” in at least some scenarios, even though they were not explicitly asked about distraction within the environment. Further, when asked if drones should be allowed to be flown near roadways, 43% stated “Yes” and 57% stated “No.” Many who believed they should be allowed to be flown near roadways thought so as long as the pilot was generally “responsible.” Overall, the responses from participants indicated that non-licensed pilots should not be allowed to fly near roadways, as this could lead to potentially dangerous situations.
The Takeaway
Drones in view of drivers cause high-risk glances away from the forward roadway, as well as create a general cognitive and visual distracted environment. Thus, drone flights on the roadside create dangerous environments, regardless of whether the flight is for research purposes or otherwise.
Precautionary steps should be taken before flying a drone within the visual line of sight of a driver in any circumstance. It is also recommended policy be created to limit the situations in which drones are allowed to be flown near roadways, which could lead to safer environments for all road users.
Read the full paper for details:
Driver performance due to small unmanned aerial system applications in the vicinity of roadways. Alyssa Ryan, Cole Fitzpatrick, Eleni Christofa, and Michael Knodler. Transportation Research Part F: Psychology and Behaviour (2020).