EFFECTS OF THE COMMON COLD ON SIMULATED DRIVING

摘要

Tye (1960) reported an association between the incidence of colds and influenza and the number of road accidents in the UK. The present study examined this issue by using a virtual reality driving simulator. Driving performance was assessed in terms of deviations from target speed, deviations from the centre line of the track (RMS error), kerb hits and reaction times to unexpected targets. The results showed that volunteers with colds hit the kerb more frequently and had slower response times to the unexpected targets. Further research on driver fatigue induced by minor illness is now clearly required.