DRIVING BEHAVIOUR IN A REAL AND A SIMULATED ROAD TUNNEL

The aim was to validate driving behaviour in a simulated road tun Speed and lateral position of 20 subjects were measured in a real tunnel and in the same tunnel implemented in the VTI Driving Simulator. Driving speed was higher in the simulated tunnel than the real tunnel. Elimination of speed information from the speedometer caused a small speed increase in both situations. Als the difference between driving lanes was similar in both cases. T effects on speed variation was similar to that for speed level. Regarding lateral position, subjects positioned themselves somewh further away from the nearest tunnel wall in the real tunnel than the simulated tunnel. In both situations the distance to the near wall was greater when it was located to the left of the driver th on the opposite side. Lateral position deviation was about the sa when the road was straight, but on a curved section it was somewh greater for the simulated tunnel. Subjects reported that they fou it somewhat more difficult to keep the chosen speed in the simula tunnel. Other subjective differences between the real and the simulated tunnel were small. It is concluded that behavioural validity in absolute terms was not quite satisfactory, especially regarding choice of speed, whereas relative validity was good for both speed and lateral position. (A)