THE RELATION BETWEEN SIMULATOR AND STREET PERFORMANCE

A STUDY IS DESCRIBED WHICH IS DESIGNED TO COMPARE ON-THE- ROAD PERFORMANCE IN A CONTROLLED LABORATORY SETTING ON SIMULATED DRIVING TASKS AND DRIVING RELATED PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR TASKS. THE STUDY INVOLVED COMPARISONS BETWEEN ROAD PERFORMANCE, SIMULATOR PERFORMANCE, PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR SKILL PERFORMANCE, BIOGRAPHICAL FACTORS AND OFFICIALLY RECORDED ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS DURING A FIVE-YEAR PERIOD. THE POPULATION CONSISTED OF APPROXIMATELY 300 TAXI OPERATORS FROM WASHINGTON, D.C. AREA. ROAD PERFORMANCE DATA WERE OBTAINED BY PAIRS OF TRAINED OBSERVERS USING BEHAVIORAL CHECKLISTS. SIMULATOR PERFORMANCE DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM THE SCORING APPARATUS OF ONE DEVICE WIDELY USED IN HIGH SCHOOL DRIVER EDUCATION COURSES AND ANOTHER DEVICE USED FOR DRIVER IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES RELATING TO EXPERIENCED COMMERCIAL DRIVERS. PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM THREE DEVICES ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED IN THE U.S. AIR FORCE PROGRAM. VIOLATION AND ACCIDENT DATA WERE OBTAINED FROM BOTH THE MOTOR VEHICLE DEPARTMENT AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. NONE OF THE COMPONENT OR TOTAL SCORES FROM THE SIMULATORS WERE CORRELATED WITH ROAD PERFORMANCE. IT WAS FOUND THAT CHECKLIST METHODS DEVELOPED FROM MOTION PICTURE TECHNIQUES ARE FEASIBLE FOR USE IN DIRECT OBSERVATION BY AUTO PASSENGERS. THERE IS, HOWEVER, A NEED FOR FURTHER DETERMINATION OF RIDE-RERIDE RELIABILITY UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE GENERALITY OF SIMULATOR MEASURES WERE RAISED BY THE LACK OF OBTAINED RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCORES DESIGNATED TO MEASURE PRESUMABLY THE SAME FUNCTION. PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR PERFORMANCES WERE NOT CORRELATED WITH ROAD PERFORMANCES. SOME SIGNIFICANT RELATIONS BETWEEN PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR PERFORMANCE AND SIMULATOR PERFORMANCE WERE FOUND. ALTHOUGH NOT HIGH, THESE RELATIONS TENDED TO BE HIGHER THAN THOSE BETWEEN PERFORMANCE ON THE TWO SIMULATORS. AGE AND DRIVING EXPERIENCE WERE THE MOST CONSISTENT PREDICTORS OF SIMULATOR PERFORMANCE. RELATIONS BETWEEN OFFICIALLY RECORDED ACCIDENT AND VIOLATION DATA AND ALL PERFORMANCE MEASURES USED WERE LOW. SOME SIGNIFICANT PREDICTORS OF CERTAIN CLASSES OF VIOLATIONS WERE ACHIEVED FROM ROAD PERFORMANCE MEASURES. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Report No R 69-7, 170 PP, 3 FIG, 11 TAB, 8 REF
• Corporate Authors:

  American Institutes for Research

  1000 Thomas Jefferson Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20007-3835
• Authors:
  • Edwards, D S
  • Hahn, C P
  • Fleishman, E A
• Publication Date: 1969-5

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Driver performance; Driver training; Drivers; Driving simulators; Knowledge; Perception; Personnel performance
• Uncontrolled Terms: Experience; Violations
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220635
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 15 1971 12:00AM