Effectiveness of automotive warning system presented with multiple sensory modalities

Although it is very important to drive safely by drivers themselves, it is impossible to find drivers who do not make mistakes during driving. Therefore, vehicles should be equipped with a system that automatically detect hazardous state and warn if of drivers so that such a preventive safety can contribute to the reduction of traffic accidents due to the oversight of important information necessary for safety driving. This study paid attention to the preventive safety technology, and discussed how the warning should be presented to drivers. It was explored whether simultaneously presenting warning to multiple sensory organs such as visual and auditory systems can promote (quicken) the perception of warning even under the situation, where interference between information of the same sensory modality occurs. The auditory-tactile warning was found to lead to quicker and more accurate reaction to a hazardous scene during a simulated driving.