Assessment of Drivers’ Reaction Times. Tests on the Track and in the Driving Simulator

Abstract

This paper describes research studies analyzing the behaviour of drivers in the simulated accident risk situation. The study was conducted in two environments: on the Kielce Car Test Track and in the driving simulator autoPW of Warsaw University of Technology. The same 3 (different) situational scenarios of accidents were performed in both environments and the same group of 100 drivers was examined. Each of the examined persons performed the same set of tests, randomly ordered, carried out for various values of the time TTC (time to collision), received as combinations of the tested vehicle velocity and its distance from the roadblock. The vehicle speed was changed within the range from 36 up to 60 km/h, and the distance of the vehicle from the first roadblock from 5 up to 50 m. The paper presents exemplary results of the research studies.