Comparative Analysis of Driving Performance and Visual and Physiological Responses Between Professional and Civilian Drivers in Simulated Environments

Nagy, Viktor; Sándor, Ágoston Pál; Kovács, Gábor; Elias, Hanan; Pappalardo, Giuseppina · 2025 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.3390/app152212024

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

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Summary

This study investigates the differences in driving performance, visual behavior, and physiological responses between professional and civilian drivers within a simulated environment. Motivated by the limited literature comparing these groups, particularly regarding gaze behaviors and performance metrics in Hungary, the research aims to delineate how trained professional drivers (specifically from the Hungarian Police Service) differ from general civilian drivers. The study tests three hypotheses: that civilians exhibit lower driving performance, lower control and stability, and lower visual attention with higher heart rate responses compared to professionals. The experimental design involved 30 participants, equally split between 15 civilian and 15 professional drivers. Participants completed a series of simulations using a custom-built BeamNG.tech environment, including four cone avoidance tasks (narrow passage, slalom, center of gravity displacement, and double obstacle avoidance) and a high-speed motorway scenario involving unexpected event management. Data collection utilized Pupil Neon eye-tracking technology to measure visual attention (fixation frequency and duration), Polar H9 devices for heart rate monitoring, and video recording for hand usage on the steering wheel. Vehicle telemetry captured performance metrics such as speed, steering intensity, and throttle engagement. Statistical analysis employed mixed ANCOVA models controlling for age, alongside Wilcoxon rank-sum and t-tests to compare group differences. The results revealed significant demographic disparities, with professional drivers being older, more experienced, and driving significantly greater distances than civilians. In the cone avoidance scenarios, civilian drivers demonstrated similar performance precision and visual/physiological responses to professionals, with notable exceptions in speed, experiment duration, and throttle usage. Civilians drove approximately 18% faster than professionals and exhibited longer mean fixation durations (583.75 ms vs. 456.25 ms). Conversely, professionals showed higher steering intensity. In the motorway scenario, no significant differences were found between the two groups across any measured metrics. The findings suggest that while professional drivers may exhibit different control strategies (e.g., lower speed, higher steering intensity) in precision tasks, their overall performance and physiological responses in complex scenarios are not significantly distinct from those of civilian drivers in this sample. The authors conclude that these results require cautious interpretation due to the small sample size and demographic confounders. The study highlights the need for larger-scale revalidation to accurately assess driver differences, which is crucial for improving road safety and evaluating training programs.

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Topics

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• simulator validity fidelity
• visual occlusion

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: physiological data
• Methodological Resource: tool software, validation psychometrics