According to U.S. government statistics, approximately 42,000 lives are lost annually in automobile accidents on U.S. highways. A large percentage of these accidents can be partially attributed to human error. Any technology that improves understanding of human driving performance can have a drastic effect on reducing fatalities and other ancillary societal costs. One technology with such potential is high-fidelity driving simulation. The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration constructed the National Advanced Driving Simulator, 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 investigate causes of collisions, with the goal of reducing fatalities on U.S. roadways. This paper overviews its design, core capabilities, and key applications and discusses how they may influence safety. The National Advanced Driving Simulator is operated by The University of Iowa on a self-sustaining basis.
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