Measuring Judgment, Reaction Time, and Reaction Type in Drivers
Presentation Type
Poster
Abstract
This study aims to determine how driver experience affects driver judgment in possible collision situations. The performance of novice drivers will be tested against experienced drivers in the same driving scenarios. In this study, novice drivers will include university undergraduates and experienced drivers will include police officers. This experiment will use a driving simulator and a map construction program. Participants will be asked to drive one of four maps constructed in either rural or urban settings. These scenarios include a highway, a suburban side street, a major T-intersection, and a parallel parking lot. The maps will be designed to force a surprise brake reaction to another vehicle. The driver must decide whether to skid (brake) or swerve before colliding with the vehicle. Skidding involves a rapid deceleration of the participant vehicle. Swerving involves an immediate steering maneuver that results in the participant vehicle entering another lane. Each scenario is designed such that a swerve is the optimal decision to avoid collision. It is hoped that under the specific circumstances of our maps, choosing to skid would still result in collision. Therefore, the study has two parts: in the first we will evaluate each map to determine if a swerve reaction is truly superior given the map construction. We will then retain the best map to test our experienced and novice drivers. It is predicted that more experienced drivers will choose to swerve out of the possible collision when it is the superior choice. The variables we will ultimately be measuring include reaction time and success/failure of avoiding the collision event. This study is currently being piloted with a sample novice drivers. Future plans include testing police officers as the sample for experienced drivers. Police officers have been chosen as the sample for experienced drivers as they are required to have driving skillsets beyond those expected from average civilians. Demographic questions in this study will explore habits and attitudes of experienced and novice drivers. The results of this experiment may provide insight into safer and more beneficial driving practices of experienced drivers. This information will be useful in training new drivers and curtailing maladaptive habits in real world situations. Once this experiment is complete, we will provide an in-depth analysis of our results.
Measuring Judgment, Reaction Time, and Reaction Type in Drivers
This study aims to determine how driver experience affects driver judgment in possible collision situations. The performance of novice drivers will be tested against experienced drivers in the same driving scenarios. In this study, novice drivers will include university undergraduates and experienced drivers will include police officers. This experiment will use a driving simulator and a map construction program. Participants will be asked to drive one of four maps constructed in either rural or urban settings. These scenarios include a highway, a suburban side street, a major T-intersection, and a parallel parking lot. The maps will be designed to force a surprise brake reaction to another vehicle. The driver must decide whether to skid (brake) or swerve before colliding with the vehicle. Skidding involves a rapid deceleration of the participant vehicle. Swerving involves an immediate steering maneuver that results in the participant vehicle entering another lane. Each scenario is designed such that a swerve is the optimal decision to avoid collision. It is hoped that under the specific circumstances of our maps, choosing to skid would still result in collision. Therefore, the study has two parts: in the first we will evaluate each map to determine if a swerve reaction is truly superior given the map construction. We will then retain the best map to test our experienced and novice drivers. It is predicted that more experienced drivers will choose to swerve out of the possible collision when it is the superior choice. The variables we will ultimately be measuring include reaction time and success/failure of avoiding the collision event. This study is currently being piloted with a sample novice drivers. Future plans include testing police officers as the sample for experienced drivers. Police officers have been chosen as the sample for experienced drivers as they are required to have driving skillsets beyond those expected from average civilians. Demographic questions in this study will explore habits and attitudes of experienced and novice drivers. The results of this experiment may provide insight into safer and more beneficial driving practices of experienced drivers. This information will be useful in training new drivers and curtailing maladaptive habits in real world situations. Once this experiment is complete, we will provide an in-depth analysis of our results.