a VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute) , Linköping , Sweden.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2013;14(8):874-80. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2013.777958.
The study examines how drivers experience a conventional W-beam guardrail (metal crash barrier) along both sides of narrow versus wider roads (single carriageway with 2 lanes) in terms of stress, feelings, and driving patterns and whether subjective experience concurs with the actual driving patterns captured by the quantitative data.
The study used different methods to capture data, including the VTI Driving Simulator III (speed and lateral vehicle position) in conjunction with electrocardiogram (ECG) data on heart rate variability (HRV) and questionnaires (oral during driving and written after driving). Eighteen participants--8 men and 10 women--were recruited for the simulator study and the simulator road section was 10 km long.
Driving speeds increased slightly on the wider road and on the road with a crash barrier, and the lateral driving position was nearer to the road center on the narrower road and on the road with a crash barrier. The HRV data did not indicate that participants experienced greater stress due to road width or due to the presence of a crash barrier. Participant experience captured in the oral questionnaires suggested that road width did not affect driver stress or driving patterns; however, the written questionnaire results supported the simulator data, indicating that a wider road led to increased speed. None of the participants felt that crash barriers made them feel calmer.
We believe that there is a possibility that the increased speed on roads with crash barriers may be explained by drivers' sense of increased security. This study demonstrates that an experimental design including experience-based data captured using both a simulator and questionnaires is productive. It also demonstrates that driving simulators can be used to study road features such as crash barriers. It seems more than likely that features such as street lamps, signs, and landscape objects could be tested in this way.
本研究旨在探讨驾驶员在狭窄（单车道有 2 条车道）和宽阔道路（单车道）两侧使用传统 W 型护栏（金属防撞栏）时的应激、感觉和驾驶模式，并研究主观体验是否与通过定量数据捕捉到的实际驾驶模式一致。
本研究使用了不同的方法来收集数据，包括 VTI 驾驶模拟器 III（速度和车辆横向位置）以及心电图（ECG）数据的心率变异性（HRV）和问卷（驾驶时口头回答和驾驶后书面回答）。共有 18 名参与者（8 名男性和 10 名女性）参与了模拟器研究，模拟器道路段长 10 公里。
在较宽的道路和有护栏的道路上，驾驶速度略有提高，而在较窄的道路和有护栏的道路上，车辆横向位置更靠近道路中心。HRV 数据并未表明参与者因道路宽度或护栏的存在而感到更大的压力。在口头问卷中，参与者的体验表明道路宽度不会影响驾驶员的压力或驾驶模式；然而，书面问卷的结果支持了模拟器数据，表明较宽的道路会导致速度提高。没有参与者认为护栏会让他们感到更平静。
我们认为，护栏道路上速度的提高可能是由于驾驶员感到更安全。本研究表明，包括使用模拟器和问卷收集基于经验的数据的实验设计是有效的。它还表明，驾驶模拟器可用于研究护栏等道路特征。很可能可以通过这种方式测试路灯、标志和景观等特征。
