Fear of driving

These test drives are part of the ‘Clinical’ module.

Simulations can be started from the folder FearOfDriving.
Description:
Two long drives for people with fear of driving:
– drive on a highway (HighwayFear)
– drive in a village (IntersectionsFear).
In both simulations clients drive straight on continuously (no turning at intersections). When the car is involved in an accident, it just drives straight on without a noticeable clash sound, in order not to affect the anxiety level too much. There’s no feedback on behaviour, because this is not a driver training leson, but instead it is an exposure session.
After each 5 minutes interval, the Virtual Instructor (VI) asks to indicate the amount of tension/anxiety on a scale from 0..9: 0 means no anxiety and 9 means maximum anxiety.
The client has to take account of the traffic rules and road signs and of other traffic, and drive in a safe way.
Task duration:
The simulations take around 30 minutes each.
Measurements:
No data are stored.
Simulations:

HighwayFear is a drive of approximately 30 minutes on a highway with other traffic. Now and again, the client exits the highway and enters the highway again later on. Apart from that, the driver drives straight on. The road is sometime strongly curved and the simulator car is continuously being overtaken by other cars.

IntersectionsFear is drive of approximately 30 minutes in a small town, in which the driver drives straight through a lot on intersections, with traffic from left and right and road signs that control the priority rules.