What, who, and when? The perceptions that young drivers and parents have of driving simulators for use in driver education

Abstract

Driver education providers may utilise technologies such as driving simulators to augment their existing courses. Understanding the perceptions that young drivers and parents have of simulators may help to make simulator-based driver education more accepted and more likely to be effective. Young drivers and parents completed an online questionnaire that included a “simulator invention” visualisation task. Items based on the Goals for Driver Education framework investigated perceptions of the most appropriate skill type, while others examined the most suitable target group for simulator training, and timing in relation to completing a formal driver education course for simulator training to occur. Both groups perceived that simulators were most appropriate for training a combination of physical, traffic, psychological, and social driving skills with learner drivers during attendance at a novice driver education program. Young drivers and parents had similar perceptions regarding the amount that each skill type should be trained using a simulator. Understanding the perceptions of young drivers and parents, and especially those who are somewhat naïve to the use of driving simulators, may aid in the introduction and administration of simulator training and may increase the effectiveness of driver education as a crash countermeasure.