Driver Assessment and Training System (DATS) Educational and Simulation Software

Transcription

1 Driver Assessment and Training System (DATS) Educational and Simulation Software DATS, Driver Assessment and Training System, is a driver education and training program designed for novice drivers and as a refresher course for experienced drivers. DATS has been developed over the last decade in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The system presents a series of videos describing the roadway and driving environment, rules of the road, and typical driving hazards. The system also includes a driving simulation component that enables students to experience driving under simulated hazardous conditions. The simulations, in a virtual reality situational environment, present to the student the primary components of defensive driving; hazard perception, situational awareness, and appropriate decision making. Although the system is designed to be self administered and does not require an instructor, the system is an effective teaching tool for both individual and group instruction. In classroom environments, the system can be proctored easily by a teacher or administrator, with minimal instructor interaction being required. The startup page, shown in Figure 2, allows students to register during their initial exposure and log in for subsequent sessions. Figure 3 shows the lesson page where the lessons are initiated, and Figure 4 shows the pages that introduce the lessons. DATS requires students to follow the sequence of the lesson plan and keeps track of their progress. Instructors can choose which lessons they want their students to take. Lessons include videos to review important driving concepts, a quiz on knowledge gained, and simulation drives that expose the student to a range of roadway conditions and hazard events. The purpose of the simulation drives is to train student skills in situational awareness, hazard perception and appropriate decision making. The lessons present multimedia material including videos on the driving environment, roadway hazards and driver risk taking. Figure 5 illustrates material on turning and traffic signs. Figure 6 shows additional material on traffic control devices. Figure 7 shows material on the consequences of speeding and aggressive driving. Videos are also included in the lessons on impaired driving and distracted driving.

2 Lessons are followed by quizzes as illustrated in Figure 8 designed to gage student attitudes and comprehension. Several DATS lessons concentrate on different roadway environments (residential, urban, and rural) and two special lessons treat impaired driving and distracted driving. Figure 9 shows scenes from the driving scenarios that teach familiarity with the driving environment. Figure 10 shows hazard events that are presented during the drives and teach situational awareness, hazard perception, and appropriate decision making for steering and braking actions. Students receive performance feedback on their simulation drives as illustrated in Figure 11. Finally, two special option lessons are devoted to the dangers of impaired driving and distracted driving. Both of these lessons have very compelling videos and driving scenarios to demonstrate the dangers of impaired and distracted driving. The user presentation for the impaired driving lesson is shown in Figure 12. It displays drink equivalence, the effect of the number of drinks and the consumption period on BAC. The simulation drive shows a narrowed field of view (Figure 13) and also simulates delays in driver response due to BAC that lead to accidents. Finally, the DATS novice driver training system approach is consistent with the skill domains outlined in reference study National Academies Press, Board, Board on Testing and Assessment, Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferrable Knowledge and Skills in the 21 st Century, Washington, DC, July Cognitive domain - including thinking, reasoning, and related skills: situational awareness; hazard perception; decision making. Intrapersonal domain - involving self-management, including the ability to regulate one s behavior and emotions to reach goals: risk taking; impaired and distracted driving. Interpersonal domain - involving expressing information to others, as well as interpreting others messages and responding appropriately: driving motivation, dealing with passengers and other drive Figure 1. DATS software is compatible with a wide variety of hardware solutions, including sufficiently configured laptops.

3 Figure 2. DATS Start Up Page Allowing Students to Register and to Login for Lessons. Figure 3. Lesson Selection Page.

4 a) Start Up Page for the Introduction and Orientation b) Start Up Page for the first lesson on Residential Streets. Figure 4. Startup Pages for Lessons

5 Figure 5. Orientation Video The Roadway Environment

6 Figure 6. Orientation Video-Traffic Control Devices

7 Figure 7. Video-The Consequences of Speeding and Aggressive Driving

8 a) Orientation Material b) Post Drive Figure 8. Quiz and Survey Excerpts

9 Figure 9. Performance Feedback After Simulation Drive

10 a) Sober Condition b) Calculated BAC Condition Figure 10. Interface for Impaired Simulation Drive

11 Figure 11. Narrowed Field of View During Simulated Alcohol Impaired Driving

12 Figure 12. Classroom setting: DATS is designed to be self-administering and does not require a teacher or administrator. However, DATS is an effective solution for classroom instruction. For an example of a complete hardware system that includes and runs the DATS software, the M1DATS System, please see this link For other hardware systems that run DATS, please contact us at sales@stisimdrive.com For more information, contact us at sales@stisimdrive.com, or call us at