Implementing Surrogate Safety Measures in Driving Simulator and Evaluating the Safety Effects of Simulator-Based Training on Risky Driving Behaviors

Abstract

Human errors cause approximately 90 percent of traffic accidents, and drivers with risky driving behaviors are involved in about 52 percent of severe traffic crashes. Driver education using driving simulators has been used extensively to obtain a quantitative evaluation of driving behaviors without causing drivers to be at risk for physical injuries. However, since many driver education programs that use simulators have limits on realistic interactions with surrounding vehicles, they are limited in reducing risky driving behaviors associated with surrounding vehicles. This study introduces surrogate safety measures (SSMs) into simulator-based training in order to evaluate the potential for crashes and to reduce risky driving behaviors in driving situations that include surrounding vehicles. A preliminary experiment was conducted with 31 drivers to analyze whether the SSMs could identify risky driving behaviors. The results showed that 15 SSMs were statistically significant measures to capture risky driving behaviors. This study used simulator-based training with 21 novice drivers, 16 elderly drivers, and 21 commercial drivers to determine whether a simulator-based training program using the SSMs is effective in reducing risky driving behaviors. The risky driving behaviors by novice drivers were reduced significantly with the exception of erratic lane-changing. In the case of elderly drivers, speeding was the only risky driving behavior that was reduced; the others were not reduced because of their difficulty with manipulating the pedals in the driving simulator and their defensive driving. Risky driving behaviors by commercial drivers were reduced overall. The results of this study indicated that the SSMs can be used to enhance drivers’ safety, to evaluate the safety of traffic management strategies as well as to reduce risky driving behaviors in simulator-based training.