Test Drives in the Daimler-Benz Driving Simulator with Drivers under Diazepam

摘要

The research project investigated the influence of diazepam on the driving performance measured in the Daimler-Benz Driving Simulator. Test subjects were male students; 20 received a medium, and 20 received a high dosage of diazepam. A third group of 20 students served as a control group without diazepam. The test drive involved ten standardized driving tasks (scenarios) which either required a normal every-day response or represented an 'emergency situation' with greater demands on the driver. No significant differences were found between the three groups. In all scenarios the individual differences within groups were higher than differences between the groups. Based on the results the hypothesis was derived that compensatory mechanisms may take effect in particular dosage ranges.