Ford’s Virttex Lab Helps Lead Driver Distraction Research For Nhsta’s Save-It Project

Ford’s Virttex Lab Helps Lead Driver Distraction Research For Nhsta’s Save-It Project

Results from a five-year study aimed at finding ways to develop, demonstrate and evaluate methods to help minimize the risk of driver distraction and enhance the effectiveness of crash warning systems in vehicles are expected to be released in early 2008 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The NHTSA-directed project was initiated in 2003 as a way to learn how automakers might be able to better manage driver workloads and reduce distractions in a day when more drivers are bringing portable electronic devices into their vehicles and as in-car electronics continue to provide greater functionality.

The “SAfety VEhicles using adaptive Interface Technologies” research project, or SAVE-IT, is being led by Delphi Corp. In-vehicle research continues simultaneously at the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS) at the University of Iowa, at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and at Ford Motor Company’s Virtual Text Track Experiment (VIRTTEX) lab.

The goal of the NHTSA-directed project is to develop, demonstrate, and evaluate methods to help minimize the risk of driver distraction and enhance the effectiveness of crash warning systems. The SAVE-IT project is scheduled to be completed in early 2008.

VIRTTEX, Ford’s full-motion-based driving simulator, has been operational since 2001 and continues to be a critical tool in the industry’s ongoing effort to better understand the complexities of driver distraction. Ford, together with Volvo, recently used VIRTTEX to examine driver preferences and reaction times with advanced early-warning systems such as Forward Collision Warning (FCW).

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