@article{ref1,
title="Driver headway choice: A comparison between driving simulator and real-road driving",
journal="Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour",
year="2014",
author="Risto, Malte and Martens, Marieke H.",
volume="25",
number="",
pages="1-9",
abstract="Driving simulators have become an established tool in driver behaviour research by offering a controllable, safe and cost-effective alternative to real world driving. A challenge for using driving simulators as a research tool has been to elicit driving behaviour that equals real world driving. With respect to driver headways few studies have made a direct comparison between behaviour in real and virtual environments. The present study compared driver headway (close following) choice in a driving simulator and in an instrumented vehicle. Twenty-two participants carried out instructions to either change their headway to a specific value or to choose a headway as they would normally do. The speed of the lead vehicle (80, 100 or 120 km/h) as well as the target headway (1, 1.5, 2 s) were varied between trials. Specific headway instructions were provided in seconds as well as metres. The attained headways were compared between the virtual and the real environment. <br><br>RESULTS show no significant difference between headway choice in the simulator and on a real road, neither for self-chosen nor for instructed headways. The results provide support for the use of driving simulators in studies on headway choice.<p />",
language="en",
issn="1369-8478",
doi="10.1016/j.trf.2014.05.001",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2014.05.001"
}