Differences in driver behaviour between novice and experienced drivers: A driving simulator study

This study is an extension of a previous work where differences between race-car drivers and normal drivers has been investigated in a high-speed driving task. The study focused on gaining knowledge about driver differences that can be helpful in designing an adaptive ADAS by introducing the driver into the control loop. The present study takes this research forward and is oriented around finding the differences between novice and normal (experienced) drivers while performing a double lane change maneuver and a high-speed cornering task. The study aimed at finding parameters capable of differentiating the two groups with special emphasis on steering behaviour. Part A of the test procedure required the participants to complete a double lane change at various speeds (from 70km/h to 105km/h). Data analysis showed that late initial steering input given by the novices compared to the experienced drivers was the main reason for their poor performance. Steering metrics like timing of steering input, average steering rate and average steering jerk showed statistically significant differences between the two groups. Part B of the experiment required the participants to drive around a flat oval track to achieve the fastest lap times. Analysis showed that higher steering activity and differences in path strategy were the main reasons for lower lap-times shown by the experienced drivers compared to the novice drivers. Steering metrics like average steering rate, steering jerk showed higher values for the experienced group.