Critical Analysis on the NHTSA Acceptance Criteria for In-Vehicle Electronic Devices

Abstract

We tested a commercial in-car navigation system prototype against the NHTSA criteria for acceptance testing of in-vehicle electronic devices, in order to see what types of in-car tasks fail the acceptance test and why. In addition, we studied the visual demands of the driving scenario recommended by NHTSA for task acceptance testing. In the light of the results, NHTSA guidelines and acceptance criteria need to be further developed. In particular visual demands of the driving scenario and for different simulators need to be standardized in order to enable fair testing and comparable test results. We suggest the visual occlusion method for finding a driving scenario that corresponds better with real-life driving in visual demands as well as for standardizing the visual demands of the scenario when applied to different driving simulators. Furthermore, the acceptance criteria need to be re-evaluated. Especially the TEORT limit's applicability to a variety of test tasks needs to be validated and exceptions for certain task types considered. The utility of the average glance duration criterion should be reconsidered.