TRANSPORTATION SAFETY RESEARCH APPLICATIONS UTILIZING HIGH-FIDELITY DRIVING SIMULATION

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration constructed the National Advanced Driving Simulator (NADS), the highest fidelity ground vehicle simulator in the world, to investigate human-centered issues as they relate to driving safety. The simulator's primary mission is to study causes of traffic collisions, with the aim of reducing fatalities on U.S. highways. This paper provides an overview of the design, core capabilities, and key applications of the NADS and discusses how they may influence safety.