Designer driving: drivers' conceptual models and level of trust in adaptive cruise control

A driving simulator study was completed in order to examine drivers' level of trust and the type of Conceptual Model (CM) they held of an Adaptive Cruise Control system (ACC). Fifteen drivers participated in a ten days study where they were allocated to varying percentage of ACC reliability conditions (100%, 50%, 0%). Results demonstrated inappropriate levels of self-reported trust in relation to the corresponding level of reliability. In addition the DCMs were consolidated over a short period of time, but they did not match that of designers' model of ACC, thus better design solutions may be warranted.