SUMMARY

New vehicles are increasingly equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that support the driving task by issuing warnings, intervening with temporary control, or automating part of the driving task. The increasing prevalence of ADAS leads to changes in the knowledge, skills, and behaviors required by drivers to safely operate their vehicles. This project aims to develop a practitioner guide that offers tools, strategies, and processes for providing education and training about ADAS to audiences including operators, consumers, service providers, and others. This report summarizes the foundational work completed in Phase I and how those findings informed the development of a practitioner guide in Phase II.

Phase I: Document and Review ADAS Materials

In Phase I, the team reviewed ADAS education and training materials in the scientific literature, from standards development organizations and activities, and from other organizations. The research team developed a framework to categorize existing educational materials, identify gaps, and observe areas lacking coverage. The framework included five factors to characterize the scope and depth of ADAS educational and training materials: training/education objectives, audiences for the materials, types of ADAS, types of content, and delivery modes. To detail the information provided in the educational and training materials, the team organized the content into six categories: purpose, function, operational design domain (ODD), limitations, responsibilities, and procedures to use ADAS.

The researchers conducted a scoping literature review to investigate the effectiveness of ADAS training. Collectively, the 44 studies included a total of 101 training groups, with adaptive cruise control (ACC) being the most common ADAS. The studies measured driver understanding, use, trust, and/or perceptions (e.g., ease of use) of ADAS. The current state of the literature provides evidence of the preliminary efficacy of training to promote driver use, understanding, trust, and perceptions of ADAS. However, there is a lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of ADAS training outside a research setting.

Another review activity documented educational content on ADAS for passenger and commercial vehicles by conducting a targeted search across various organizations like transportation agencies, driver education programs, rental companies, online sources, and more. The review covered 60 organizations and included websites, brochures, videos, and vehicle manuals. The team examined each source for content about ADAS technologies, the intended audience, the inclusion of images or videos, links to other resources, and other characteristics. Nearly all materials included content about ADAS purpose and function. Around half the materials had content about ODD, limitations, and user responsibility. Very few materials specified an objective or presented learners with an opportunity to apply or assess their knowledge.

During the review of educational materials, the team flagged any content that contained potentially inaccurate information. Most of the concerns were related to the use of ambiguous or inconsistent language rather than information that was inaccurate. Therefore, the researchers labeled these concerns as opportunities for confusion and classified them into four general categories: incorrect content, ambiguous content, lack of context, and inconsistent content. Materials contained many potential inaccuracies, some of which could be very challenging to identify without existing knowledge or experience with ADAS. The ADAS that had the highest proportion of materials with opportunities for confusion was ACC, with 56%. ACC keeps your vehicle at a safe distance is an example of vague language that may mislead the driver. The meaning of safe is subjective and differs across driving scenarios (e.g., when roads are wet).

The research team was tasked with identifying driving populations who may benefit from a better understanding of ADAS and selecting an ADAS to focus on in Phase II of the project. Based on Phase I findings, the research team identified new users of ADAS and ACC, respectively. Recommendations from the literature suggest that new ADAS users should receive training before driving with these systems

because users often develop their understanding, expectations, and perceptions after their initial use of the system. Focusing on new users of ACC allows for an exploration of a complex system, which necessitates a comprehensive understanding for proper use, and this knowledge can be easily adapted to other ADAS that include ACC, such as active driver assistance, or simpler systems that provide forward crash prevention, such as automatic emergency braking.

Phase II: Develop Practitioner Guidance

The review of the literature, standards, and educational materials illustrated that there can be no one-size-fits-all solution for ADAS education and training. During Phase II of the project, the research team developed a process to guide practitioners through steps to identify and customize ADAS learning materials that fit their organization’s aims, audience of learners, learning objectives, and resources. Development of the process was informed by the findings from Phase I and two case studies that simulated how practitioners might provide ADAS education or training for the featured population and ADAS (i.e., new users of ACC). The research team intentionally selected characteristics of each case study to illustrate the use of the process in different settings. The first case study considers how a state transportation agency might develop new learning materials to provide education about ACC to drivers of passenger vehicles. The second case study demonstrates how the process could be applied to identify existing materials that could be incorporated into company-provided training about ACC in a commercial motor vehicle.

After developing an initial outline of the process, the team worked through the steps in the context of the passenger vehicle case study scenario. Through this approach, they identified areas where steps were missing or required additional content. This process also identified several opportunities to provide practitioners with tools or resources. In parallel, the team drafted content and tools for the guide and performed several iterations of drafting and revising content based on the experience of applying the guidance to the case study scenario. The team further revised the deliverables as they developed the commercial motor vehicle case study.

The practitioner guide begins by summarizing the findings from the research team’s Phase I review activities. Next, the guide describes a process for practitioners to define learning objectives, identify information sources, evaluate whether the materials fit the practitioners’ objectives, select content for learning materials, and plan for dissemination of the learning materials. The process contains a preparation stage and eight steps. Practitioners may add, remove, or execute steps in a different order based on their needs and constraints.

• In the preparation stage, practitioners clarify the organization’s rationale for providing information about ADAS, identify resources that the organization will provide for the effort, and determine who will be involved in the process.
• In Step 1, practitioners identify the intended audience, learning objectives, and ADAS features to include in the learning materials.
• In Step 2, practitioners develop a plan (i.e., when, where, and how) for delivering ADAS education.
• In Step 3, practitioners specify the ADAS content needed for the learning materials, then plan and conduct a search to identify sources of ADAS information that include content related to the identified learning objectives.
• In Step 4, practitioners review the identified information sources (e.g., ADAS educational material) and extract content related to the learning objectives.
• In Step 5, practitioners evaluate and synthesize the information extracted in Step 4 and provide the specifications for the learning materials to the content creation team.
• In Step 6, practitioners review the learning material designed by the content creation team.
• In Step 7, practitioners solicit feedback for the learning materials from representatives of the target audience.
• In Step 8, the learning materials are disseminated to the target audience.

After detailing the process for practitioners, the guide presents the two case studies to illustrate the application of the process and use of the tools.

The research team developed several tools and resources to assist practitioners.

• Observed Names for Selected ADAS - Practitioners can use this table to identify common names for ADAS and other terms that can be used to search for resources.
• ADAS Information Source Tracker – Practitioners can modify and use this tool to maintain a record of search efforts and findings.
• Resource Identification Tool – Practitioners can use this tool to inform their search strategy for ADAS educational materials. The tool collates the ADAS educational materials reviewed in 2023 during Phase I of this project.
• Content Organization Tool – Practitioners can modify and use this tool to identify, review, and organize ADAS content that aligns with the learning objectives.
• Aid for Identifying Opportunities for Confusion in ADAS Information – This resource provides examples to help practitioners identify opportunities for confusion in ADAS educational materials, including images.

In addition to the practitioner guide and this final research report, the research team prepared webinar materials, a technical memorandum on implementation, and recommendations for future research.