Browsing by Subject "Driving simulation"
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Item Comparison of Dual-Phase and Static Changeable Message Signs to Convey Airline Information on Interstate Freeways(Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section, 2010-01) Harder, Kathleen A.; Bloomfield, John R.We used a fully interactive PC-based STISIM driving simulator to compare dual-phase Changeable Message Signs (CMSs) and static CMSs. The participants were 120 licensed drivers from three age groups: 18-24, 32-47, and 55- 65 years of age. They drove eleven miles on a simulated six-lane highway towards an airport, knowing which airline to look for. Airline information was provided on two separate CMSs located 500 ft (152.4 m) apart on the highway in one condition, or on a single dual-phase CMS in the other condition. The participants took the correct exit on 89.6% of the drives (215 of 240). There were no statistically significant differences between the number of participants who failed to take the correct exit in the dual-phase and the static CMS conditions. On the approach to the CMSs displaying airline information, there were significant differences in average speed between the three age groups—younger drivers drove faster than middle age and older drivers. However, average speeds were not different in the dual-phase and static CMS conditions. Some individuals reduced speed on approaching the CMSs—suggesting similar reductions could occur in real world driving in free flow conditions. There were no differences in the number or magnitude of the speed reductions for the dual-phase and static CMS conditions. In this experiment, displaying airline information on a single dual-phase CMS was as effective in influencing driving behavior as displaying the same airline information on two static CMSs.Item The Effectiveness and Safety of Traffic and Non-Traffic Related Messages Presented on Changeable Message Signs—Phase II(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2008-08) Harder, Kathleen A.; Bloomfield, John R.In Phase II of this investigation, we used a fully interactive PC-based STISIM driving simulator, to conduct two experiments which were similar to experiments in Phase I. The participants were 120 licensed drivers from three age groups—18-24, 32-47, and 55-65 years old—who drove, in free flow traffic, for approximately 20 miles on a four-lane freeway before encountering target messages on Changeable Message Signs (CMSs). The Phase II CMS messages were clearer and less complex than those used in Phase I. In the first experiment the target message was changed to “Road Closed/Crash Ahead/Use Thompson Exit:” 93.3% of the participants took the exit—as compared to 55.8% in Phase I. In the second experiment, the message was changed to “Abducted Child/Tune To/Radio 88.5 FM:” 71.7% of the participants (71.7%) could remember enough information to enable them tune to 88.5 FM—as compared to 8.3% who could recall some vehicle information and at least five license plate letters and numbers from the Phase I CMS (“AMBER Alert/Red Ford Truck/ MN Lic# SLM 509”). Some participants reduced speed on approaching the CMSs, suggesting similar reductions could occur in real world driving in free flow conditions. However, when traffic is congested speeds are typically slower, and drivers are less likely to reduce speed still further to read CMSs. We conducted a survey which showed drivers think it is very useful to have information about traffic problems and roadway maintenance schedules on CMSs. Also, we analyzed real-world traffic speed data obtained when CMS messages were deployed. Finally, we conducted observations at Mn/DOT’s Regional Transportation Management Center (RTMC), focusing on the decision-making processes involved when traffic-related CMS messages are deployed.Item Examining the Impact of ASE (Automated Speed Enforcement) in Work Zones on Driver Attention(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2016-01) Morris, Nichole L.; Cooper, Jennifer L.; Ton, Alice; Plummer, John Paul; Easterlund, PeterEach year, there are over 500 fatal crashes in work zones in the U.S., with over 100 road construction workers killed on work sites (NSC, 2011; FARS, 2011). Speed and distraction are among the top contributing factors to work zone crashes (Garber & Zhao, 2002; Mountain, Hirst, & Maher, 2005; Wilson, Willis, Hendrikz, Le Brocque, & Bellamy, 2006). The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different types of speed enforcement methods on driver attention in work zones. The investigation not only examined enforcement methods currently used in Minnesota, but also examined how implementing automated speed enforcement (ASE), which is not currently used in Minnesota, may influence driver attention and behavior in simulated work zones. Overall, the results do not appear to support the hypothesis that ASE without dynamic speed display sign (DSDS) improves driver attention in work zones. There is some evidence, however, that drivers did heighten their visual attention in work zones with ASE+DSDS enforcement. Drivers fixated on the secondary task display less frequently in the ASE+DSDS condition compared to other enforcement types while they traveled in the downstream portion of the work zone. The largest effects of the study were found among the age groups, with younger and older drivers exceeding the speed limit most often and varying their speed slightly depending on the type of enforcement present. Middle-aged drivers exhibited the greatest speed control and tended to abide by the speed limit to the same extent regardless of the type of enforcement present.Item The Use of Driving Simulation for the Assessment, Training and Testing of Older Drivers(1990-01) Hancock, Peter A.; Caird, J. K.; White, H. G.With the lowering of the birth rate over the last decade and a half, and the increased life expectancy associated with improving health care, the United States is undergoing a radical aging of its populace. This change in demographic structure is embedded in a society experiencing clear and rapid advances in its technological capability (Abend & Chen, 1985; U.S. Congress, 1985; Tobias, 1987). One ramification of these combined developments is that expectations of activity and lifestyle change rapidly across successive cohorts. Typically, each sequential cohort expects to retain access to progressively wider ranges of activity which have become characteristic of their respective lifestyles. Contemporary and future cohorts will expect continued access to the privilege of autonomous mobility, typically through the use of the automobile (Wachs, 1988; Waller, 1972). This aspiration generates a conflict between two powerful and somewhat antagonistic societal forces. On one side is the traditional and expected freedom that emanates from owning and operating a personal automobile. On the other is the potential and actual safety hazards associated with the actions of an aging central nervous system having to cope with progressively more complex and demanding driving environments (Federal Highway Administration, 1986). The potential resolution of this conflict lies in the use of a systems approach as a framework to apply Human Factors principles to improve the driving environment, the vehicle, and facilitate the capabilities of the driver. Unfortunately, there is little research available that is specifically directed at the Human Factors problems faced by aging drivers with regard to design of automobiles, roadways, and roadway communication symbols (Forbes, 1985; Staplin, Breton, Haimo, Farber, & Byrnes, 1986; Yanik, 1989). Consequently, there is a fundamental need for research efforts in this area. It is one facet of this systems-based strategy (Doebelin, 1980), namely the use of simulation in training, testing, and evaluating the older driver, that is the focus of the present report.