Using Eye Movements in Driving Simulators to Evaluate Effects of PC-Based Risk Awareness Training

Abstract

Novice drivers have a fatality rate that is ten times higher than the most experienced group of drivers. The primary reason for this is the novice drivers' inability to predict the risks that appear in the roadway ahead. No driver education programs currently exist which teach risk awareness skills to novice drivers across a number of different scenarios. Such a program was developed and then evaluated in two experiments. In the first, 24 novice drivers completed a PC-based risk awareness training program which displayed plan views of 10 different risky scenarios. In the second, the risk awareness of these 24 trained novice drivers and an additional 24 untrained novice drivers was evaluated in an advanced driving simulator using measures of their eye movements. The set of PC trained novice drivers were more likely to recognize risks on the driving simulator, both in those scenarios studied in training and those not seen previously.