ABSTRACT
The final phase of the project involved controlled tests to determine the correlation between poor performance on the Truck Operator Proficiency System (TOPS) and actual driving simulator performance. The driving simulator tasks were based on tasks used in previous simulator research. These tasks have been found to be sensitive to impaired driving performance, and are similar to tasks which would be encountered during normal driving. A reward–penalty structure was included as part of the simulator runs to motivate ‘normal’ driving behaviour. The simulator performance data were analysed using multivariate analysis of variance techniques. Multiple regression techniques were used to compare the drivers’ performance on the simulator and TOPS tests. The simulator measures three basic tasks involved in driving: the steering control capability of the driver; the speed control capability of the driver; and the divided attention capability of the driver.
