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The world's elite in driver distraction research gathered in Gothenburg at the DDI conference

Oct, 20 2022

Over 160 delegates from 23 countries attended the 8th edition of the International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention (DDI2222) held in Gothenburg, October 19-20, 2022. The co-organisers SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers, the Université Gustave Eiffel and the University of New South Wales, are very pleased with the outcome.

This was the eighth time that representatives from research institutes, industry, government and academia met to get up-to-date on current and recent developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. The overall theme for DDI2022 was “Safety assessment of human interactions with vehicles and automotive technologies in the context of driver distraction and inattention”. This theme targeted research on how to assess the safety impact of driver distraction and inattention. For example, how human-machine interface designs could be quantitatively assessed with respect to safety and what the differences and requirements of such assessment in development, compliance assessment and consumer rating are, as well as even better understand how safety of disconnected drivers can be assessed.

All in all, the presented research results, keynotes and panel discussions contributed with new valuable knowledge about and reflections on how driver distraction can be prevented and assessed with regard to safety. 

Valuable research published
At the event, 33 oral presentations and 9 poster presentations resulted in the DDI2022 conference proceedings, which can be found here: https://ddi2022.org/proceedings/

Also, the conference co-operates with the high impact factor scientific journal Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour (impact factor 4.595). The authors of the best abstracts will be (or in some cases, have been) invited to submit a full paper for consideration a special issue of the journal. Details will be sent to the selected authors shortly. Accepted papers will be published in a standard TRF issue, then compiled in an online special issue when all contributions have been completed the TRF review process. 

On the conference there were also two keynote speakers, two engaging panel discussions technical visit to Smart Eye and plenty of time for networking and knowledge exchange. Smart Eye was the gold sponsor of the conference and Tobi supported the event as silver sponsors.

Jonas Bärgman DDI2022

Jonas Bärgman, Chalmers University of Technology, and Co-chair of the conference says:

“As an organizer, and from a scientific perspective, I am overall very pleased with the scientific quality of the contributions to the conference. In addition, I feel that the two keynote speakers did an excellent job highlighting two very different aspects of driver distraction and inattention – very inspiring! The two panel discussions further gave us additional perspectives on DDI now and in the future and the issues of safety assessment of DDI. As a whole, the conference has moved our knowledge on driver distraction inattention, and their countermeasures (as well as what we do not know…), a substantial step forward. I am truly looking forward to DDI204!”

Professor Michael Regan, University of New South Wales, is also giving his comment about the main take-aways from the conference:

“The key point for me is that activities critical for safe driving are changing as vehicles become more automated and the driving task is changing. Consequently, the diversion of attention away from activities critical for safe driving is having new impacts on driving performance and safety. Distraction will be with us for some time to come and creates new challenges and opportunities for countermeasure development.”

Dan Best Student AwardBest student award to Dan Boguslavsky 
Dan Boguslavsky, Ben Gurion University Of The Negev, was awarded the Best student award for the best combined research work and presentation. The title of his presentation was “Effect of engagement with a Trivia game on driver’s sleepiness and behavioural adaptation in a partially automated vehicle”.

The winner was selected by the conference Co-chairs together with the delegates. The Award was 500 Euros and a free ticket to the next DDI conference. 

Next conference in Michigan 2024
The ninth edition of the conference will take place in at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in the US, October 22-24, 2024.

About DDI
The International Conference on Driver Distraction and Inattention is the primary international event on this topic, attracting delegates from more than 20 countries. It is designed to bring participants – from academia, industry and government – up-to-date on the developments and trends in the field of inattention and distraction in driving. The conference features keynote speakers, plenary and parallel sessions, poster exhibition and a panel dialogue with various experts, representing various disciplines in this line of research. Networking is also an important part of the conference and we are looking forward to host the most recent and relevant research dialogue together with experts from all around the world to move forward with our common challenge to save lives in traffic. All papers are peer-reviewed.

The DDI conferences are organised by SAFER Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers in Sweden, the Université Gustave Eiffel, France and the University of New South Wales, Australia. Five conferences have been hosted in Gothenburg, one in Sydney and one in Paris. The conference in 2021 was held online. DDI is held biannually, in even years. Today, the conference plays an important role within the field.

Annie DDI2022


 

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