Drivers’ overall comfort experiences of reclined positions in a passenger car with an automated driving function.
Journal article, 2025

Automated driving (AD) in cars enables reclined positions when drivers disengage from driving tasks. The objective was to explore driver comfort in self-selected reclined positions during AD, and whether the chosen seat back angle is affected by stature. The study involved 29 participants in upright and reclined positions during AD on a test track at 30 km/h. After experiencing AD, the participants could adjust their reclined position settings. Seat settings of upright, reclined and adjusted reclined positions were collected, along with questionnaire and interview data about comfort. Statistical tests and thematic analysis were performed. The results implied that drivers may prefer reclined positions during AD, if they can observe the traffic and intervene with the AD system. Regardless of stature, drivers using AD do not want to recline as much as expected from static experiments. The automotive industry should revisit expectations for reclined positions to ensure driver comfort in AD.

reclined seating

automated driving

user test

comfort

Author

Melina Makris

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Design & Human Factors

Arun Muthumani

Autoliv AB

Matteo Herrera

Autoliv AB

D Wang

Autoliv AB

Mikael Johansson

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Design & Human Factors

Anna-Lisa Osvalder

Chalmers, Industrial and Materials Science, Design & Human Factors

Applied Ergonomics

0003-6870 (ISSN) 1872-9126 (eISSN)

Vol. 126 126 104503

Safe and comfortable seat belts for all

FFI - Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation (2024-03637), 2024-11-15 -- 2028-02-29.

Areas of Advance

Transport

Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)

Other Engineering and Technologies

DOI

10.1016/j.apergo.2025.104503

PubMed

40081296

More information

Latest update

3/27/2025