Driver headway choice: A comparison between driving simulator and real-road driving

Driving simulators have become an established tool in driver behaviour research by offering a controllable, safe and cost-effective alternative to real world driving. A challenge for using driving simulators as a research tool has been to elicit driving behaviour that equals real world driving. With respect to driver headways few studies have made a direct comparison between behaviour in real and virtual environments. The present study compared driver headway choice in a driving simulator and in an instrumented vehicle. Twenty-two participants carried out instructions to either change their headway to a specific value or to choose a headway as they would normally do. The speed of the lead vehicle (80, 100 or 120 km/h) as well as the target headway (1, 1.5, 2 s) were varied between trials. Specific headway instructions were provided in seconds as well as metres. The attained headways were compared between the virtual and the real environment. Results show no significant difference between headway choice in the simulator and on a real road, neither for self-chosen nor for instructed headways. The results provide support for the use of driving simulators in studies on headway choice. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[1]  Thomas D. Parsons,et al.  Gender Differences and Cognition Among Older Adults , 2005 .

[2]  Thomas Engen.  Use and validation of driving simulators , 2008 .

[3]  Loren Staplin.  SIMULATOR AND FIELD MEASURES OF DRIVER AGE DIFFERENCES IN LEFT-TURN GAP JUDGMENTS , 1995 .

[4]  J. G. Hollands,et al.  Engineering Psychology and Human Performance , 1984 .

[5]  Peter Willemsen,et al.  Perceived egocentric distances in real, image-based, and traditional virtual environments , 2002, Proceedings IEEE Virtual Reality 2002.

[6]  A. Hamish Jamson,et al.  Driving Simulators as Research Tools in Traffic Psychology , 2011 .

[7]  J Törnros,et al.  Driving behavior in a real and a simulated road tunnel--a validation study. , 1998, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[8]  W. Epstein.  The known-size-apparent-distance hypothesis. , 1961, The American journal of psychology.

[9]  R. Bakeman.  Recommended effect size statistics for repeated measures designs , 2005, Behavior research methods.

[10]  James E. Cutting,et al.  Chapter 3 – Perceiving Layout and Knowing Distances: The Integration, Relative Potency, and Contextual Use of Different Information about Depth* , 1995 .

[11]  Karel A Brookhuis,et al.  That's close enough--a threshold effect of time headway on the experience of risk, task difficulty, effort, and comfort. , 2010, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[12]  David Shinar,et al.  Minimum and Comfortable Driving Headways: Reality versus Perception , 2001, Hum. Factors.

[13]  A. Hamish Jamson,et al.  The validity of a low-cost simulator for the assessment of the effects of in-vehicle information systems. , 2010 .

[14]  J. Algina,et al.  Generalized eta and omega squared statistics: measures of effect size for some common research designs. , 2003, Psychological methods.

[15]  Peter Willemsen,et al.  Does the Quality of the Computer Graphics Matter when Judging Distances in Visually Immersive Environments? , 2004, Presence: Teleoperators & Virtual Environments.

[16]  Boris van Waterschoot.  The challenge of designing intelligent support behavior: emulation as a tool for developing cognitive systems , 2013 .

[17]  Francesco Bella,et al.  Driving simulator for speed research on two-lane rural roads. , 2008, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[18]  Thomas J Triggs,et al.  Driving simulator validation for speed research. , 2002, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[19]  Ronald R. Knipling,et al.  IVHS TECHNOLOGIES APPLIED TO COLLISION AVOIDANCE: PERSPECTIVES ON SIX TARGET CRASH TYPES AND COUNTERMEASURES , 1993 .

[20]  F. Bremmer,et al.  The use of optical velocities for distance discrimination and reproduction during visually simulated self motion , 1999, Experimental Brain Research.

[21]  J. Droulez,et al.  Speed and safety distance control in truck driving: comparison of simulation and real-world environment. , 2001 .

[22]  Marieke Hendrikje Martens,et al.  Time and space: The difference between following time headway and distance headway instructions , 2013 .

[23]  Judith Lynne Charlton,et al.  Simulator Validity: Behaviors Observed on the Simulator and on the Road , 2011 .

[24]  Frank Flemisch,et al.  The theater-system technique: agile designing and testing of system behavior and interaction, applied to highly automated vehicles , 2009, AutomotiveUI.

[25]  Peter Willemsen,et al.  The Influence of Restricted Viewing Conditions on Egocentric Distance Perception: Implications for Real and Virtual Indoor Environments , 2005, Perception.

[26]  A. Kemeny,et al.  Evaluating perception in driving simulation experiments , 2003, Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

[27]  Richard R. Rosinski,et al.  Distance perception under binocular and monocular viewing conditions , 1976 .

[28]  A Heino,et al.  Choice of time-headway in car-following and the role of time-to-collision information in braking. , 1996, Ergonomics.

[29]  B Duncan.  CALIBRATION TRIALS OF TRL DRIVING SIMULATOR , 1998 .

[30]  J. Loomis,et al.  Immersive virtual environment technology as a basic research tool in psychology , 1999, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[31]  Adi Ronen,et al.  Validation of speed perception and production in a single screen simulator , 2007 .

[32]  Gerard J. Blaauw,et al.  Driving Experience and Task Demands in Simulator and Instrumented Car: A Validation Study , 1982 .

[33]  Meirav Taieb-Maimon,et al.  Learning Headway Estimation in Driving , 2007, Hum. Factors.

[34]  R N Haber,et al.  The independence of size perception and distance perception , 2001, Perception & psychophysics.

[35]  David Shinar,et al.  Effects of an In-Vehicle Collision Avoidance Warning System on Short- and Long-Term Driving Performance , 2002, Hum. Factors.

[36]  Jack M. Loomis,et al.  Visual perception of egocentric distance in real and virtual environments. , 2003 .

[37]  Jan Theeuwes,et al.  Driving Simulator Validity: Some Considerations , 1996 .

[38]  M L Cook,et al.  A Short History of Driving Simulation , 2011 .

[39]  B Rogers,et al.  Motion Parallax as an Independent Cue for Depth Perception , 1979, Perception.