Simulator versus traditional training: A comparative study of night driving training

Abstract

In recent decades, simulators have become an increasingly accepted part of training in sectors like aviation, medicine, and the petroleum industry. Some countries like the Netherlands, the UK, and Finland have accepted simulators as a part of driver’s education, but in Norway the use of simulators is both limited and restricted. This experimental study aimed to determine whether simulator-based training in night driving could be beneficial compared to traditional Norwegian training. Two equal-sized groups of learner drivers completed both simulator training and traditional training, and both training sessions were followed by a multiple-choice test mapping the learner drivers’ theoretical knowledge on the topic. The results show that theoretical learning outcome is higher from simulator training compared to traditional training, indicating that an increased use of simulators could be beneficial in driver training.