It is commonly agreed that visual perception is the most prominent faculty among the psychological, internal processes involved in the act of driving a car. It is therefore not surprising that "where to look", 'when to look' and 'how to look' are major issues in the instruction of novice drivers. Despite the fact that visual strategies are being taught, we are still rather limited in understanding the differences between novice and expert drivers in their visual behaviour. It is concluded that 'understanding' visual behaviour requires an exhaustive model of the cognitive and perceptual processes. This paper outlines a theory that explores the involvement of the visual system in driving. The theory is discussed on three levels of description: a taxonomy of the visual tasks, an algorithmic account for the tasks and an implementation of the algorithms in a simulation of the driver. The chapter is concluded by recommendations for the instruction of novice drivers.
Abstract