Review of relationships between steering wheel reversal rate and driving task demand

Abstract

Previous literature and some new data on the relationship between steering wheel reversal rate (SRR) and driving task demand are discussed in terms of a set of theoretical assumptions proposed by W. A. Macdonald and E. R. Hoffmann (1978). SRR is generally expected to increase with increasing task demand; however, several recent studies found a significant decrease in SRR. It is argued that whether the relationship is positive or negative depends on the level of task difficulty relative to the driver's capacity to cope with it.