Is the risk of kinetosis lower in future autonomous driving cars?

The risk of a kinetosis in a car trip depends on the individual sensitivity, the driving style and the function/sitting position in the vehicle. In autonomous driving cars the driving style is taken over by software and the occupants all become passive co-drivers. The possibility of minimizing the risk as an active driver with suitable compensatory countermeasures is eliminated. Specifications for the automotive industry can only be made on medical expertise in the physiology of the organ of balance and the conflict of senses (visually-vestibular or within the labyrinth).

In a questionnaire among 500 randomly selected persons (female 48 %, male: 52 %) the incidence of basic kinetosis problems in the car and the influence of typical driving situations were investigated.

Car trips cause significantly more kinetosis symptoms than train journeys. Frequent lane change or cornering or frequent braking and acceleration is estimated as critical as a cruise on a light sea or a turbulent flight. The winding mountain ride is even as critical as a chain carousel or heavy seas. Nausea occurs during a car trip in 46 % of respondents (19 % frequently or always) and 19 % of respondents reported vomiting as at least as rare. In certain driving situations, women's suffering is up to three times higher than men's. Reading during a car trip leads to an average of about 5 times more frequent kinetosis than in the active driver function.

The objective of "reading in the car instead of driving" works only when the movements approach the situation in the train. Experimental studies on the definition of low-stress driving maneuvers will follow.

Poster-PDF A-1941.PDF

Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020