Comparison of Anticipatory Glancing and Risk Mitigation of Novice Drivers and Exemplary Drivers When Approaching Intersections in a Driving Simulator

摘要

Novice drivers are overrepresented in left-turn-across-path [LTAP] intersection crashes. Infact, 16 and 17 year old drivers are more likely to be killed in LTAP crash types than they arein any other crash type. The previous research demonstrates one of the reasons why this is thecase: novice drivers are less likely to anticipate hazards within an intersection. But it did notshow whether failures to anticipate the hazards within intersections were linked to failures tomitigate the hazards such as slowing or yielding. This research was an effort to compare thelinked hazard anticipation and hazard mitigation behaviors of novice drivers with exemplaryexperienced drivers at LTAP situations. Each participant in the experiment drove in a virtualworld using a Realtime Technologies, Inc. driving simulator for approximately 36 minutes.During the drive, participants navigated two LTAP configurations in the virtual world, one ofwhich included a through movement at an intersection obstructed by traffic in the adjacentlane that obstructed the turning traffic, and one of which included approaching traffic at allthree legs before the driver had to decide whether to turn. Experienced drivers made moreanticipatory glances, began slowing significantly earlier, and slowed significantly more whenapproaching an intersection with the potential for latent hazards than did the novice drivers.However, those novice drivers who anticipated the hazards were much more likely than thosewho did not to also mitigate the hazard. The use of these results in a PC-based driver hazardmitigation training program will be discussed.