ABSTRACT
ThemainpurposeoftheTRAINERprojectwastodevelopanewcost-effective Pan-Europeandrivertrainingmethodology,basedoncomputerbasedinteractive multimediaandsimulatortechnology,whichpaidsignificantattentionnotonlyto gainexperienceofdrivingandhandlingthevehicle,butalsototheenhancementof riskawarenessoflearnersdrivers.Forthispurposesimulationtoolswere developed.Anumberofscenariosforapplicationinthesimulatorswere implemented.Thescenariosaddressesthemostimportantneedsoflearnerdrivers, basedonaccidentstatisticsandanextensiveliteraturereview.Theyhavebeen structuredinaccordancewiththefourhierarchicallevelsoftheGDE-matrix.In ordertobeabletoassesstheTRAINERtoolsimpactontrafficsafety,driver behaviourwasmeasuredinanexperimentintheVTIresearchsimulator.The drivers 'behaviouris,however,notonlyinfluencedbytheirdrivingperformance skills,butalsoontheirhazardperceptualabilities.Thischaptercoversoneoftwo experimentalstudiescarriedoutatVTIwiththepurposeofevaluatingtheeffects oftheTRAINERsimulatorsontrafficsafety.Theexperimentpresentedhereis measuringdriverbehaviourandwascarriedoutintheVTIresearchsimulator.The otherexperimentwascarriedoutinrealtraffic,wherehazardperceptualskills wereassessedbydatafromeye-trackerrecordingofvisualsearchstrategiesofthe driver.Theresultsshowsignificantlysaferdriverbehaviourinthetrialgroupwhen drivinginfogandwhenrespondingtoaSMSonamobilephone.Therewereno significantdifferencesinscenarioswhereabusorwhereamooseunexpectedly appearedontheroad.Theresultsshowthatitispossibletoimprovedriving behaviourbyincludingsimulatortrainingindrivereducation.Moreresearchand developmentis,however,neededinordertodesignscenariosforbettersafety effectinmoresituations.
