Characteristics of path-tracking skill on a curving road

The objective of this research work is to evaluate the relation of driver skill to measurements done when driving on a regular curving road, i.e., performing a primary driving task. A curving road scenario is designed using both clear sight and fog–limited sight distance. Measures are compared under equal conditions to identify the best separation of recruited driver types. A moving base simulator, VTI Simulator III, is used for the acquisition of driver metrics. Curves are found to be more reliable for identifying driver skill than straight road segments, and a number of measures show good performance in characterising driving skill under the tested conditions, both for clear sight and with the preview limited down to 30 m. The standard deviation proves to be very useful and qualifies for successful driver skill categorisation for commonly sampled data such as the lateral acceleration, yaw rate and steering wheel angle.