Driver Performance in Accident Likely Conditions

Project summary:

The purpose of the present work is to examine the reaction of drivers in accident-likely situations created in interactive simulation conditions. As the focus of research on advanced transportation systems progressively emphasizes safety, the need to understand driver performance in such crucial conditions grows. Such research cannot be accomplished through on-road testing since this exposes individuals to unacceptable levels of risk. Therefore, the work can only be conducted in simulation. However, such simulations cannot present pre-determined conflicting path vehicles since it is the interaction between respective drivers which represents the critical behavior to be studied. Therefore, such research has to be performed in interactive simulation including more than one active driver. At the Human Factors Research Laboratory at the University of Minnesota we have already constructed this unique facility and this proposal seeks to take advantage of this capability to sustain our leadership in the crucial realm of safety and driver performance.