Is there a better way of learning to drive than how we’ve been doing for decades?
Learning to drive is an exciting and stressful time for many new drivers. Imagine if there was a way to alleviate some of that stress while still learning to drive in the process. Is that something you might be interested in? Well then let me introduce you to a driving simulator; a machine that simulates the conditions of driving a vehicle while keeping occupants safe and sound.
Could Jacob have avoided that crash when an oncoming vehicle swerved into his lane? How about Rebecca; who was involved in an incident because she did not know the proper driving procedures in the rain? Many proponents say yes. However, many driving school instructors urge new drivers to learn the old-fashion way; in a vehicle. We discuss the pros and cons of learning to drive in a driving simulator.
Pros
Less Stress… More Fun!
How many reports have you seen where a vehicle pulls out of nowhere and causes someone to crash their car. In a simulation setting, you will be able to practice specific scariness to get a sense of what can be done to avoid these horrific accidents. In addition, less stress on the mind means more fun in the process. Games are synonym with fun. And what’s more fun than playing a driving game such as GTA (Grand Theft Auto) or forza (Forza Motorsports) for a young driver. These games have allowed teenagers to operate a vehicle (although in a fictitious setting with hookers and drug dealers around the corner) as a form of entertainment. Still, these scenarios allow a new driver to better comprehend an environment where real-world cars are replaced with high-quality pixelated images.
Dealing with Real-world situations
Modern driving simulators are capable of replicating up to 400 different scenarios that teach the range of cognitive skills necessary to deal with complex traffic and roadway conditions. This allows new drivers to sharpen their reaction time in the process. Simulators can also be used to prepare students to handle unpredictable or safety-critical tasks that may be inappropriate to practice on the road, such as collision avoidance or risky driving. In addition, simulators make it possible to study hazard anticipation and perception by exposing drivers to dangerous driving tasks, which is an ethically challenging endeavor in real vehicles. More day to day operations can also be thought such as parallel parking, making proper 3 point turns and that dreadful lane changing thing.
One of the main causes of accidents on the road stems from driving too fast. A driving simulator can address these concerns by demonstrating what actually happens when a driver exceeds the speed limit and how their reaction time is affected in the process. There is no way to teach students this same condition on the road without putting everyone in danger in the process. Study after study has shown that car crashes are significantly higher in young drivers during the first years of receiving a license and decrease with increased experience.
The crash rate for 16-year-olds is 3.7 times higher than drivers of all ages. This produces an interesting dilemma about how to provide young drivers with driving experience without significantly increasing their crash risk. A driving simulation may be the solution to this dilemma by offering an opportunity to learn from mistakes in a forgiving environment.
Accurate Data Collection
When an instructor advises a student that he or she has a made a wide left turn, it is much more difficult to explain how wide the turn actually was compared to the proper way. In a simulator, you are given specific data so that an instructor can advise what to adjust and exactly by how much. Such valuable information gives immediate feedback to the student to adjust accordingly in a matter of seconds. For example, in one study using an instrumented vehicle and a driving simulator, it was impossible to determine the distance between the vehicle and a stop line on the road, while in the simulator this information was readily available. Measurement of lateral position is challenging as well, as this requires visible lane markers while weather conditions, reflection, and shades may affect the quality of the measurement. The study found that lateral position measurements of the instrumented vehicle were of marginal quality while this information was accurate in the simulator, leading the authors to conclude that problems with field studies in an instrumented vehicle have been confirmed.
Controlling a Situation
Driving simulators offer learners various advantages compared to real vehicles. One of these is the controllability of the driving situation or scenario. Students can practice a particular maneuver repeatedly in various conditions until they get it right. In a simulated environment, students can also prepare for dangerous driving conditions without being physically at risk. Learning to drive using a simulator also offers students more educational moments within a shorter period of time, making driver training more beneficial. Every driver is different and as such have different needs that need to be addressed. The benefits of a simulator are that it can create countless unique scenarios to practice in. Whether you live in a highly populated city and want to learn how to better avoid pedestrians or you just want to practice driving at night, a simulator can perform these circumstances with a click of a button.
Almost 10 years ago we witnessed an amazing accomplishment by a heroic pilot named Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. He was able to land his plane (insert article here) safely in the New York Hudson River; saving everyone on board. When asked how he was able to make split-second decisions, he pointed to a flight simulator which gave him the “creative reserve” to think outside the box. These simulators allowed him an area where he could conduct countless maneuvers in the face of danger without actually being in real danger. It is difficult to say if his amazing accomplishment was actually the result of a simulator or just his own temperament and skills flying a plane for many years
Huge Companies Are Now in the Simulation Game
Driving schools are not the only ones that have implemented simulators. UPS, for example, has been utilizing these machines for a few years now with positive results. UPS, working with Sacramento-based Virtual Driver Interactive, created a training program whereby each module focused on a specific training issue. “From July 2013 to April 2014, when implementing the simulators in our facility, we saw a 38% reduction in crashes,” says Rodney Ruff, division manager for UPS in Brooklyn, New York. Now, if a shipping company is this concerned with accidents and how that may impact their business, image how new and inexperienced drivers should feel when their lives are at risk.
Cons
Not the Real Thing
The feeling of driving for the first or second or even third time brings a jolt to your system that no simulator can match. That false sense of safety operating a simulator can actually hurt your ability to react to real-life scenarios, where split-second decisions have to be made. In a relaxed environment, your fight or flight signals may not work as fast as they need to. New technology will always be welcome; particularly as it relates to helping humans achieve something more effectively. Driving simulators may be great for practice but the experience of driving a 3000-pound machine has not been able to be replicated. Some students may not take their driving simulator lessons serious enough, believing that if they make a wrong decision that would lead their virtual car to crash, they can simply press a reset button and start over anyway. Interestingly, while safety is often cited as an advantage of a driving simulation, sometimes this same feature is interpreted as a disadvantage. Real danger and the real consequences of actions do not occur in a driving simulator, giving rise to a false sense of safety, responsibility, or competence.
Lack of Research
Although driving simulators present unique benefits that cannot be matched by operating a real vehicle, there are a limited amount of studies conducted regarding whether skills learned in a driving simulator transfer to the road. Note that in the field of aviation, studies on the transfer of training are far more common, but even in aviation critical questions remain unanswered; for example, whether a motion base provides added value for the effectiveness of flight training. One may assume that these skills are transferable but without hard data, we are just assuming. We have presented examples where simulators have benefited pilot and delivery companies, yet we do not know how many hours a regular student driver would need to match to achieve the results of the ones we have presented earlier. A teen driver may also not want to spend the additional time required in order to fully benefit from such a rigorous program.
Tunnel Vision Effect
To get the true value of driving simulator, you have to create a 360-degree experience so the driver feels immersed in a vehicle. Setting up three cameras such as the picture below does not take into account important driving techniques such as looking back to see if any cars are in your blind spots. A more advanced system will cost you almost as much as a real vehicle; and you can only squeeze one person at a time in one of those. Also, adequate space is required to house these simulators. Most driving schools do not have the floor space required to even fit a few of these in their establishments. A road, however, has all the space one would need to practice driving. (unless you are in California – bazzinga!)
Simulator Discomfort
Simulators present more of a challenge to adults and senior drivers. Simulator sickness is actually a real thing which causes individuals to feel light headed as they experience certain visual effects and sharp turns. I am sure young teenagers can relate to showing their parents a video game and hearing their loved ones tell them how difficult it was for them to even look at it. Teenagers are used to watching or playing on screens of all sizes; from their smartphones to their smart TVs.
Final Thoughts
A driving simulator presents many benefits that new drivers can learn in. It allows them a comfortable setting where they can practice driving, encountering many unique situations. However, these same benefits have some drawbacksas well. Not experiencing the real-life thing may hinder one’s ability to actually prepare themselves for such an event when they begin driving on the road. For driving schools, driving simulators present even further operational challenges such as price and space of housing these units. This does not mean that driving simulators have no place in drivers training courses. They just have to be another tool in the learning process of a new driver. As technology continues to evolve, we may see a blend of these two methods forming a more effective approach to driving a vehicle with safety and ease. In the meantime, a driving school is still the most realistic approach for many drivers to learn the ins and outs of driving for the very first time.