A virtual reality instrument to raise drivers’ awareness on safer driving through road tunnels

Abstract

Studies reveal that drivers’ behavior is the most significant factor in road accidents worldwide. Regarding tunnels, which are the most critical element of road infrastructure, despite the significant efforts that have been conducted toward the enhancement of drivers’ education all these years, studies illustrate that there are still serious deficiencies need to be tackled. To address this issue, this research endeavor develops a virtual reality tool based on the serious game idea in order to inform and educate potential users about the specific rules and behavioral patterns that should govern their safe driving when passing through tunnels. To do so, the appropriate behavioral patterns are determined using applicable norms and guidelines while the specific educational requirements are identified. Following that, the novel tool for training users is developed. The tool consists of a virtual reality gaming environment based on the notion of serious games that simulates driving through a tunnel from a first-person perspective. Various scenarios are developed within this environment based on the knowledge gaps identified in the literature, with the aim of assessing users’ knowledge as well as educating them when required. The developed tool was tried by more than 50 drivers, professional and non-professional during tool’s launch activities. In particular, drivers who had recently obtained a driver’s license confirmed that such a tool would be especially useful in the context of their training. The ultimate goal of this study is to provide an efficient tool in order to support both practitioners and authorities to significantly improve the safety level of road tunnels by emphasizing on the driving behavior, since this is considered the most crucial component of each tunnel system.

Post-ESREL 2021 special section: Reliability, risk, and resilience engineering for structures and infrastructures

“…Following ESREL 2021 and this special session, this special section including five papers [1][2][3][4][5] was collated with the objective of highlighting and disseminating current state-of-the-art methods and their practical applications in reliability, risk, and resilience engineering for structures and infrastructures.…”

“…The potential topics and application sectors considered for this special section included: The five papers presented in this special section explore different aspects of these topics. To begin with, in Kirytopoulos et al, 1 the authors consider the issue of safe driving through road tunnels, that is the most critical elements of road infrastructure, and investigate the interest of a virtual reality tool to educate the drivers to safe driving rules and behaviors in tunnels. Dynamic PRA of nuclear power plants, which are critical infrastructures that produce electricity, is considered in Kuboe et al, 2 with a special focus on ''risk dilution'' resulting from the assumptions about uncertainty made in dynamic PRA models.…”