Pilot Study over Secondary Task Cognitive Workload Induced on Drivers in AS 1200-6 Simulator

Modern cars are more and more frequently equipped not only with the driver assisting systems, but also with multimedia devices allowing to track the information, use the Internet or send and receive e-mails. This type of activity can cause dangerous situations by inducing various forms of distraction to the driver. In order to identify the effects caused by performing additional tasks while driving, two types of secondary tasks were proposed. The following article presents the results of a pilot study that uses two additional tasks to induce the driver with cognitive load not related to driving. At the same time, in the course of the experiment, both the driving performance and the quality of performing additional tasks were observed. The article describes selected results of the conducted study.