Drive Advisory System: Do Swedish and Chinese Drivers Appreciate it in the Same Way?

Journal article, 2016

This paper presents a cross-regional study that examined the difference on drivers’ preference and behaviors when driving with driver advisory systems between Swedish and Chinese drivers. A drive simulator study was conducted in both countries. Two interfaces were proposed: Design 1 presents directional information; Design 2 combines directional and road user icons. The results showed Swedish drivers perceived a higher acceptance score of the systems than Chinese drivers. Swedish and Chinese drivers expressed different information needs on different regions around the car. When driving with design 2, Swedish and Chinese reduced the number of collisions by 13% and 18% respectively, compared with driving without any system. The brake-to-minimum TTC proved that Swedish and Chinese drivers utilized the systems differently. These findings indicate drivers' preferences and strategies towards advisory systems are highly culturally mediated, and adaptive design for different drivers is highly recommended.