Contained in:
Book Chapter

Driving Simulator for Road Safety Design: A Comparison Between Virtual Reality Tests and In-Field Tests

  • Monica Meocci
  • Alessandro Terrosi
  • Andrea Paliotto
  • Francesca La Torre Bellardoni
  • Irene Infante

Virtual reality simulations conducted by driving simulators represent a methodology to assess both the quality of road design and road safety in a safe, controlled, and replicable environment. Nowadays, there are numerous studies that use driving simulators to analyze the driver's response when specific road safety treatments are planned before these are implemented. This approach allows the road designer/scientist to estimate the potential safety effectiveness of the countermeasure/design configuration considered. However, although virtual reality simulations are potentially extremely useful in the evaluation of road configuration design and treatments effectiveness, they also have cons. The two most important are the limitations in the reproducibility of the real world environment and the difference in drivers’ behavior due to the awareness that they are conducting a test. In this context, our research compared the data collected during virtual reality experiments with those collected in the field with an instrumented vehicle, after a few years from the implementation of the specific safety measure on a real road. Statistical analyses were conducted to compare the results of the two experiments to demonstrate the reliability of the virtual simulations and to identify the limitations

  • Keywords:
  • driving simulator,
  • road safety,
  • virtual reality,
  • road safety treatments,
  • road safety measures effectiveness,
  • in-field test,
+ Show More

Monica Meocci

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-0878-7381

Alessandro Terrosi

University of Florence, Italy

Andrea Paliotto

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-3153-8167

Francesca La Torre Bellardoni

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-7755-8342

Irene Infante

University of Florence, Italy

  1. Bassani, M., Catani, L., Salussolia, A. and Yang, C.Y.D. (2019a). A driving simulation study to examine the impact of available sight distance on driver behaviour along rural highways. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 131, 200-212. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2019.07.003
  2. Bassani, M., Hazoor, A., Catani, L. (2019b). What’s around the curve? A driving simulation experiment on compensatory strategies for safe driving along horizontal curves with sight limitation. Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology Behavior, 6, 273-291. DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2019.09.011
  3. Bella, F. (2008). Driving simulator for speed research on two-lane rural roads. Accident Analysis and Perception, 40(3), 1078-1087. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2007.10.015
  4. Bella, F. (2013). Driver Perception of roadside configurations on two-lane rural road: effects on speed and lateral placement. Accident Analysis and prevention, 50, 251-262. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2012.04.015
  5. Ben-Bassat, T. and Shinar, D. (2011). Effect of shoulder width, guardrail and roadway geometry on driver perception and behavior. Accident Analysis and Perception, 43(6), 2142-2152. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2011.06.004
  6. Bham, G.H., Leu, M.C., Vallati, M. and Mathur, D.R. (2014). Driving simulator validation of driver behavior with limited safe vantage points for data collection in work zones. Transportation Research Record, 1803, 38-44. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsr.2014.02.012
  7. Blaauw, G.J. (1982) Driving experience and tasking demands in simulator and instrumented car: a validation study. Human Factor, 24(4), 437-486. DOI: 10.1177/001872088202400408
  8. Blana, E. and Golias, J. (2002). Differences between vehicle lateral displacement on the road and ina fixed-based simulator. Human factors: the Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 44(2), 303-313. DOI: 10.1518/00187200244978
  9. Bobermin, M.P., Silva, M.M. and Ferreira S. (2021). Driving simulators to evaluate road geometric design effects on driver behaviour: A systrematic review. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 150, 105923. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2020.105923
  10. Boda, C.N., Dozza, M., Bohman, K., Thalya, P., Larsson, A. & Lubbe, N. (2018) Modelling how drivers respond to a bicyclist crossing their path at an intersection: How do test track and driving simulator compare? Accident Analysis & Prevention, 111, 238-250. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.11.032
  11. Branzi, V., Domenichini, L. and Ka Torre, F. (2017). Drivers’ speed behavior in real and simulated urban roads – a validation study. Transportation Research Part F Traffic Psychology, 49, 1-17. DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2017.06.001
  12. Branzi, V., Meocci, M., Domenichini, L., La Torre, F. (2018). Drivers’ performance in response to engineering treatments at pedestrian crossings, Advances in Transportation Studies, 2018, 1(Special Issue), pp. 55–70. DOI: 10.4399/97888255168836
  13. Calhoun, V.D. & Pearlson, G.D. (2012). A selective review of simulated driving studies: combining naturalistic and hybrid paradigms, analysis approaches, and future directions. NeuroImage, 59(1), 25–35. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.06.037
  14. Changbin, C., Junhua, W. and Yangming, L. (2015). Driving simulator validation for research on driving behavior at entrance of urban underground road. In Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on transportation information and safety, Wuhan, China. 147-150. DOI: 10.1109/ICTIS.2015.7232083
  15. Chen, L., Xie, L., Wu, S., Guo, F., Chen, Z. and Tan, W. (2021). Validation of Vehicle Driving simulator from perspective of velocity and trajectory-based driving behavior under curve conditions. Energies, 14, 8429. DOI: 10.3390/en14248429
  16. Danaf, M., Hamdar, S.H., Abou-Zeid, M. and Kaysi, I. (2018). Comparative assessment of driving behavior at signalized intersections using driving simulators. Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, 10(12), 124-158. DOI: 10.1080/19439962.2016.1162892
  17. De Winter, J.C.F., val Leeuwen, P.M. & Happee, R. (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Driving Simulators: A DiscussionIn Proceedings of Measuring Behavior, Utrecht, The Netherlands, August 28-31, 2012.
  18. Domenichini, L., La Torre, F., Tartaglia, V., Branzi, V. & Fanfani, F. (2014). Safety improvements in Urban Areas based on Human Factors principles. A case study: Via Pistoiese. In BASt - Ageing and Safe Mobility Conference 27–28 November 2014, Bergisch - Gladbach, Germany.
  19. Engen T. (2008). Use and Validation of driving simulators. Doctoral Theses at NTNU, 2008:200.
  20. Goode, N., Salmon, P. M., and Lenné, M.G. (2013). Simulation-based driver and vehicle crew training: Applications, efficacy and future directions, Applied Ergonomics, 44(3), 435-444. DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2012.10.007
  21. Kaptein, N.A., Theeuwes, J. and Van Der Horst, R. (1996). Driving simulator validity: some considerations. Transportation Research Record, 1550, 30-36. DOI: 10.1177/0361198196155000
  22. Kazemzadehazad, S., Monajjem, S., Larue, G., and King, M.J. (2021). Driving simulator validation for speed research on curves of two-lane rural roads. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport 2021 174:4, 248-253. DOI: 10.1680/jtran.18.00033
  23. Kekez, D., Walton-Blane, A., Picen, T., Vinci, B., Bonner, A., Albrecht, M.A. and Black M.H. (2022). Simulator assessment of innovative designs on driver speed and trajectories. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 176, 106798. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2022.106798
  24. Klee, H., Bauer, C., Radwan, E. and AlDeek, H. (1999). Preliminary validation of driving simulation based on forward speed. Transportation Research Record, 1698, 33-39. DOI: 10.3141/1689-05
  25. Losa, M., Frendo, F., Cofrancesco, A., & Bartolozzi, R. (2013). A procedure for validating fixed-base driving simulators. Transport, 28(2), 420–430. DOI: 10.3846/16484142.2013.867281
  26. McGehee, D.V., Mazzae, E.N. and Baldwin, G.H.S. (2000). Driver reaction time in crash avoidance research: validation of a driving simulator study on a test track. In Proceedings of the Human Factor and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 44(20), 3-320-3-323. DOI: 10.1177/154193120004402026
  27. Mecheri, S., Rosey, F. and Lobjois, R. (2017). The effects of lane width, shoulder width and road cross-sectional reallocation on drivers behavioral adaptation. Accident analysis and Prevention, 104, 65-73. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2017.04.019
  28. Meocci, M., Terrosi, A., Paliotto, A., Arrighi, R. and Petrizzo, I. (2023) Analysis of drivers’ performances approaching pedestrian crossing: an in-field study for pedestrian safety improvement using real-world data and eye-tracking technology. Submitted to Accident Analysis and Prevention.
  29. Montella, A., Galante, F., Mauriello, F. and Pernetti, M. (2018). An exploratory analysis of curve trajectories on two-lane rural highways. Transportation Research Board, Washighton D.C., 18-06797. DOI: 10.3390/su10114248
  30. Pawar, N.M., Velaga, N.R. & Sharmila, R.B. (2022) Exploring behavioral validity of driving simulator under time pressure driving conditions of professional drivers, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 89, 29-52. DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2022.06.004
  31. Wynne, R.A., Beanland, V. & Salmon, P.M. (2019) Systematic review of driving simulator validation studies, Safety Science, 117, 138-151. DOI: 10.1016/j.ssci.2019.04.004
  32. Yan, X., Abdel-Aty, M., Radwan, E., Wang, X., and Chilakapati, P. (2008). Validating a driving simulator using surrogate safety measures. Accident analysis and Prevention, 40(1), 274-288. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2007.06.007.
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2023
  • Pages: 206-218

XML
  • Publication Year: 2023

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Driving Simulator for Road Safety Design: A Comparison Between Virtual Reality Tests and In-Field Tests

Authors

Monica Meocci, Alessandro Terrosi, Andrea Paliotto, Francesca La Torre Bellardoni, Irene Infante

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3.20

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

CONVR 2023 - Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality

Book Subtitle

Managing the Digital Transformation of Construction Industry

Editors

Pietro Capone, Vito Getuli, Farzad Pour Rahimian, Nashwan Dawood, Alessandro Bruttini, Tommaso Sorbi

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2023

Copyright Information

© 2023 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY-NC 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (pdf)

979-12-215-0289-3

eISBN (xml)

979-12-215-0257-2

Series Title

Proceedings e report

Series ISSN

2704-601X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5846

121

Fulltext
downloads

131

Views

Export Citation

1,354

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,362

Book Chapters

3,870,371

Fulltext
downloads

4,516

Authors

from 936 Research Institutions

of 66 Nations

66

scientific boards

from 351 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,249

Referees

from 381 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations