What, Who, and When? The Perceptions That Young Drivers and Parents Have of Driving Simulators for Use in Driver Education

David Rodwell,Lyndel Bates,Grégoire S Larue,Narelle Haworth

doi:10.3390/safety6040046

David Rodwell, Lyndel Bates + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/safety6040046

Copy DOI

Abstract

Driver education providers may utilise technologies such as driving simulators to augment their existing courses. Understanding the perceptions that young drivers and parents have of simulators may help to make simulator-based driver education more accepted and more likely to be effective. Young drivers and parents completed an online questionnaire that included a “simulator invention” visualisation task. Items based on the Goals for Driver Education framework investigated perceptions of the most appropriate skill type, while others examined the most suitable target group for simulator training, and timing in relation to completing a formal driver education course for simulator training to occur. Both groups perceived that simulators were most appropriate for training a combination of physical, traffic, psychological, and social driving skills with learner drivers during attendance at a novice driver education program. Young drivers and parents had similar perceptions regarding the amount that each skill type should be trained using a simulator. Understanding the perceptions of young drivers and parents, and especially those who are somewhat naïve to the use of driving simulators, may aid in the introduction and administration of simulator training and may increase the effectiveness of driver education as a crash countermeasure.

Highlights

Young people in many countries are over-represented in motor vehicle crashes despite the development of interventions designed to reduce their crash involvement [1]
Parents and young drivers thought that unlicensed teenagers and Provisional 1 (P1) licence holders were appropriate training groups, but only young drivers thought that simulator training would be beneficial for Provisional 2 (P2) and open licence holders
Both young drivers and parents thought the optimal time for driving simulator training was while young people attended a driver education course (Figure 4)

Summary

Introduction

Young people in many countries are over-represented in motor vehicle crashes despite the development of interventions designed to reduce their crash involvement [1]. Mayhew and Simpson [11] suggest that professional driver education may not teach critical safe driving skills; may not motivate the use of these skills once trained; may increase or fail to reduce young driver overconfidence in driving ability; may not address contextual and lifestyle influences on driving; or may fail to target individual student needs appropriately. These potential reasons are not necessarily singular or exclusive

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion