An investigation of perceived vehicle speed from a driver's perspective

Wu, Changxu; Yu, Dekuang; Doherty, Amy; Zhang, Tianyi; Kust, Leo; Luo, Gang · 2017 · OpenAlex-citations

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185347

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Summary

This study investigates the factors influencing drivers' perception of their own vehicle's speed, addressing a critical component of roadway safety where speedometers may be inaccessible due to high cognitive workload. The research aims to quantify how image scale, road type, driving experience, gender, and actual speed affect speed estimation accuracy. By understanding these perceptual biases, the authors seek to explain contradictory findings in previous driving simulator validation studies and improve the design of driving simulation scenarios. The experimental design involved 30 participants (17 males, 13 females), including 13 individuals with no driving experience and 17 with an average of 17.9 years of experience. Participants viewed 192 five-second video clips from naturalistic driving recordings, with actual speeds evenly distributed between 5 mph and 65 mph. Half of the clips depicted wide roads (three or more lanes) and half depicted narrow roads. Videos were displayed on a large screen at four different image scales (100%, 75%, 50%, and 38% of the actual field of view). Participants estimated the speed of each clip, and estimation errors were calculated by comparing their responses to the recorded vehicle speeds. The results demonstrated that speed estimation accuracy was significantly influenced by image scale, driving experience, and actual speed. Estimates were most accurate at the smallest image scale (38%), with underestimation increasing as the image size grew; the largest scale resulted in an average underestimation of 4.6 mph. Driving experience played a crucial role: experienced drivers accurately estimated speeds on both wide and narrow roads, whereas inexperienced drivers significantly underestimated speeds, particularly on wide roads. Regarding actual speed, estimates were most accurate in the 25–35 mph range. Speeds below this range tended to be overestimated, while speeds above it were underestimated. Additionally, females exhibited greater estimation errors than males at the highest and lowest speed groups, though both genders followed similar patterns. These findings have significant implications for driving simulator design and the assessment of speed control in simulated environments. The study suggests that simulator fidelity issues, such as the "field size effect," may cause drivers to misjudge speed, potentially explaining why previous studies found conflicting results regarding driving speeds in simulators versus real-world conditions. Specifically, the tendency to overestimate low speeds and underestimate high speeds in simulations could lead drivers to drive slower or faster than they would in reality. The authors conclude that incorporating visual cues, such as dashed lane markers, and adjusting image scales in simulators could help mitigate these perceptual errors and improve the validity of driving simulations.

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Topics

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• speed distance perception
• speed choice
• decision making risk perception

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
• Methodological Resource: validation psychometrics