Comparison of driving simulator performance with real driving after alcohol intake: A randomised, single blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish and validate a driving simulator method for assessing drug effects on driving. To achieve this, we used ethanol as a positive control, and examined whether ethanol affects driving performance in the simulator, and whether these effects are consistent with performance during real driving on a test track, also under the influence of ethanol. Twenty healthy male volunteers underwent a total of six driving trials of 1h duration; three in an instrumented vehicle on a closed-circuit test track that closely resembled rural Norwegian road conditions, and three in the simulator with a driving scenario modelled after the test track. Test subjects were either sober or titrated to blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels of 0.5g/L and 0.9g/L. The study was conducted in a randomised, cross-over, single-blind fashion, using placebo drinks and placebo pills as confounders. The primary outcome measure was standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP; "weaving"). Eighteen test subjects completed all six driving trials, and complete data were acquired from 18 subjects in the simulator and 10 subjects on the test track, respectively. There was a positive dose-response relationship between higher ethanol concentrations and increases in SDLP in both the simulator and on the test track (p<0.001 for both). In the simulator, this dose-response was evident already after 15min of driving. SDLP values were higher and showed a larger inter-individual variability in the simulator than on the test track. Most subjects displayed a similar relationship between BAC and SDLP in the simulator and on the test track; however, a few subjects showed striking dissimilarities, with very high SDLP values in the simulator. This may reflect the lack of perceived danger in the simulator, causing reckless driving in a few test subjects. Overall, the results suggest that SDLP in the driving simulator is a sensitive measure of ethanol impaired driving. The comparison with real driving implies relative external validity of the simulator.

Driving simulator sickness: Impact on driving performance, influence of blood alcohol concentration, and effect of repeated simulator exposures

“…Blood ethanol concentrations were quantified using a headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method as previously described (Helland et al, 2013).…”

Good Old Gamers, Good Drivers: Results from a correlational experiment among older drivers

“…First, while most of the studies in this domain have evaluated the skills of drivers in simulators or computerized tests, the current work measures the on-road driving of participants. The differences between the results of real on-road driving and simulators have been also the topic of discussion in other contexts (Helland et al, 2013). To illustrate, Mullen et al (Mullen et al, 2011) state that simulator approximates the relative driving but does not exactly replicate onroad driving behaviour.…”

Effects of alcohol on automated and controlled driving performances

“…One limit of this study, however, is that many obvious dose-response relationships failed to reach statistical significance due to the large dispersion of responses and a limited sample size, which may have reduced the detection of real differences. Some effects could have reached significance with a larger group of participants (Helland et al 2013). It is also important to note that our findings are based on a group of young but relatively experienced subjects (more than two years with a driving license) and cannot be generalized to other populations.…”