Validation of a fixed-base automotive simulator for run-off-road safety and recovery training

Abstract

Traffic fatalities and injuries continue to demand the attention of researchers and governments across the world as they remain significant factors in public health and safety. Enhanced legislature, together with vehicle and roadway technology, has helped to reduce the impact of traffic crashes in many scenarios. However, one specifically troublesome area of traffic safety which persists is the run-off-road crash where a vehicle’s wheels leave the paved portion of the roadway and begin to travel on the shoulder or side of the road. Large percentages of fatal and injury traffic crashes are attributed to run-off-road events. One of the most critical reasons why run-off-road scenarios quickly evolve into serious crashes is poor driver performance. Drivers are unprepared to handle the situation safely and often execute dangerous maneuvers, such as overcorrection, which can lead to devastating results. One countermeasure which directly addresses the driver performance is driver education and training. In this article, a simulator-based driving environment is proposed specifically for run-off-road recovery training. A human subject study is used to validate the simulator as an effective tool for replicating the run-off-road experience with the additional benefit of receiving insight into driver reactions to run-off-road events. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results of subjective questionnaire data and objective performance evaluation parameters show strong correlations to run-off-road crash data and previous run-off-road study conclusions. In particular, higher vehicle velocities, curved roads, and larger differences between the friction coefficient of the road and the friction coefficient of the shoulder all negatively impacted drivers’ recoveries from run-off-road scenarios. The only non-significant impact found was that of the roadway edge, indicating a possible limitation of the simulator system with respect to that particular environment variable. The validation study provides a foundation for further evaluation and development of a simulator-based run-off-road recovery training program to help to equip drivers with the skills to recognize and recover safely from this dangerous and often deadly scenario.