Validation of a Driving Simulator Study on Driver Behavior at Passive Rail Level Crossings

Author(s):  
Grégoire S. Larue ◽  
Christian Wullems ◽  
Michelle Sheldrake ◽  
Andry Rakotonirainy

Objective: The behavioral validation of an advanced driving simulator for its use in evaluating passive level crossing countermeasures was performed for stopping compliance and speed profile. Background: Despite the fact that most research on emerging interventions for improving level crossing safety is conducted in a driving simulator, no study has validated the use of a simulator for this type of research. Method: We monitored driver behavior at a selected passive level crossing in the Brisbane region in Australia for 3 months ( N = 916). The level crossing was then replicated in an advanced driving simulator, and we familiarized participant drivers ( N = 54) with traversing this crossing, characterized by low road and rail traffic. Results: We established relative validity for the stopping compliance and the approach speed. Conclusion: This validation study suggests that driving simulators are an appropriate tool to study the effects of interventions at passive level crossing with low road and rail traffic, which are prone to reduced compliance due to familiarity. Application: This study also provides support for the findings of previous driving simulator studies conducted to evaluate compliance and approach speeds of passive level crossings.

Author(s):  
Harald Witt ◽  
Carl G. Hoyos

Accident statistics and studies of driving behavior have shown repeatedly that curved roads are hazardous. It was hypothesized that the safety of curves could be improved by indicating in advance the course of the road in a more effective way than do traditional road signs. A code of sequences of stripes put on right edge of the pavement was developed to indicate to the driver the radius of the curve ahead. The main characteristic of this code was the frequency of transitions from code elements to gaps between elements. The effect of these markings was investigated on a driving simulator. Twelve subjects drove on simulated roads of different curvature and with different placement of the code in the approach zone. Some positive effects of the advance information could be observed. The subjects drove more steadily, more precisely, and with a more suitable speed profile.


Author(s):  
Nico A. Kaptein ◽  
Jan Theeuwes ◽  
Richard van der Horst

The validity of driving simulators for behavioral research is discussed. The concept of validity is introduced and explained, and a survey of validation studies follows, in the TNO driving simulator and others, comparing field and simulator study results. Results for mid-level driving simulators show that generally absolute validity of route choice behavior is obtained and relative validity of speed and lateral control behavior is obtained. There is evidence suggesting that for a number of applications the presence of a moving base and possibly a higher image resolution might increase the validity of a driving simulator.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 731-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Wu ◽  
Xiaohua Zhao ◽  
Jian Rong ◽  
Yunlong Zhang

Author(s):  
Moritz Berghaus ◽  
Eszter Kallo ◽  
Markus Oeser

In this paper we use traffic data from a driving simulator study to calibrate four different car-following models. We also present two applications for which the calibration results can be used. The first application relied on the advantage that driving simulator data also contain information on driver characteristics, for example, age, gender, or the self-assessment of driver behavior. By calibrating the models for each driver individually, the resulting model parameters could be used to analyze the influence of driver characteristics on driver behavior. The analysis revealed that certain characteristics, for example, self-identification as an aggressive driver, were reflected in the model parameters. The second application was based on the capability to simulate dangerous situations that require extreme driving behavior, which is often not included in datasets from real traffic and cannot be provoked in field studies. The model validity in these situations was analyzed by comparing the prediction errors of normal and extreme driving behavior. The results showed that all four car-following models underestimated the deceleration in an emergency braking scenario in which the drivers were momentarily shocked. The driving simulator study was validated by comparing the calibration results with those obtained from real trajectory data. We concluded that driving simulator data were suitable for the two proposed applications, although the validity of driving simulator studies must always be regarded.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 520-529
Author(s):  
Keisuke Suzuki ◽  
◽  
Joohyeong Lee ◽  
Atsushi Kanbe

This study examined the effect of system status presentation on driver behavior when driving with ACC and LKA, which are classified as level 2 automated driving. First, we analyzed the driving behavior of 40 test participants in a driving simulator study under three HMI conditions: without safety level, correct safety level, and incorrect safety level which does not work properly and becomes inactive. The driver behavior database constructed in this experiment, was used to quantify the accident avoidance probability under each HMI condition using the state transition probabilistic model proposed by the author in a previous study. Finally, we quantified the degree of reduction in the probability of accident occurrence when using this HMI device in consideration of the risk of malfunction based on the integrated error model proposed by the author. Based on these results, it was shown that the HMI device that acts as a real-time interface at the system safety level between the driver and the automated driving using ACC and LKA is effective in reducing traffic accidents regardless of the increased probability of traffic accidents due to malfunctions of HMI device.


2018 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 142-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salar Sadeghi Gilandeh ◽  
Mansour Hadji Hosseinlou ◽  
Alireza Jafari Anarkooli

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