The Relationship between Sensation Seeking and Speed Choice in Road Environments with Different Levels of Risk

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a driving simulator study conducted for the UK-funded HumanDrive project, which aims to develop natural, humanlike autonomous vehicle control. As part of that effort, this paper examines whether the established relationship between different sensation seeking (SS) traits and speed choice holds true across a range of driving scenarios, with different levels of contextual risk. Risk was introduced by varying a number of factors, including the environment (rural/urban), and the road edge context (low risk, static risk, potentially dynamic risk). Correlation analysis was performed between sensation seeking and the 95th percentile of vehicle speed for roads with different levels of risk, also considering age and gender. The results indicated that, overall, SS was significantly positively correlated with the 95th percentile of vehicle speed, and particularly for drivers under 40 years. SS was also found to correlate positively with speed choice at all risk levels, however, the effect was more pronounced in road environments that were classified as less risky. These findings have design implications for the development of autonomous vehicle control models.