Impact of Mind Wandering on Driving

Abstract

According to Ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), Government of India, 84% of road accidents in 2016 occurred due to driver’s fault. Mind wandering, an internal source of driver distraction has been a latent and less researched factor for road accidents. This necessitates the requirement to study the influence of mind wandering during driving in greater detail to improve driver and road safety. Among various vehicle parameters, vehicle speed is considered a significant parameter in determining the probability of accidents. This study investigated the influence of vehicular speed on mind wandering in high perceptual simulated driving. This study assessed the variability of speed and frequency of mind wandering during two-speed conditions: 40 mph and 70 mph. Results indicated greater variability in speed during mind wandering for both speed conditions. The frequency of mind wandering at 70 mph and 40 mph condition was 22.5% and 26% respectively. Participants response to questionnaire revealed driving environment and personal matters to be major contributors for mind wandering.