State of the art technology allows to develop a low-cost driving simulator that should be suitable for training traffic participation skills, like the application of traffic rules and lane selection. It is yet unclear what the effects are of simulator training on driving in actual traffic. Under contract of the Royal Netherlands Army, a study is conducted in which a group of novice drivers (passenger cars) receive the simulator in two traffic participation tasks. The transfer-of-training is compared with a control group. The TNO low-cost driver training simulator was stationed at a military driving school. Half of the 32 participants received, in addition to normal driving lessons, training on the simulator. The other half received the usual driver training program. The simulator group received training in negotiating intersections and roundabouts. After training, all trainees drove a route in actual traffic. At pre-specified locations (mainly intersections and roundabouts), examiners assessed trainees' driving behaviour on various aspects, like looking behaviour, speed control and direction indicating. Trainees that received just normal driver training performed significantly better than trainees that also received simulator training. It is possible that low-cost driving simulators are not (yet) suitable for training the investigated tasks. It is, however, also possible that outcomes are distorted by technical, didactical and organisational problems. In future studies, simulators should be equipped with more advanced technical functionality, so that trainees (learn to) drive more easily and instructors can teach more easily. Finally, validation studies need to be carried out under rigorous experimental control. (Author/publisher)
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