Effects of situation and experience on workload and driving performance

The present study aimed to identify [the] perceived overload threshold due to driving situation complexity and driving practice. Effects of self-reported anxiety and vigilance levels on workload and driving performance were analyzed. Thirty-two participants [9 novices, 9 with three years of experience and 14 with at least five years of experience] between the age of 18 and 30 years were randomly assigned to three situations [simple, moderately complex and very complex] on a driving simulator. In each situation, three pedestrians crossed the road in front of the participants. Results confirmed that overload threshold is earlier for novices than for more experienced drivers. Nevertheless, collisions with pedestrian, subjective levels of workload and anxiety were significantly lower while subjective vigilance was higher for drivers with three years of experience than for those with at least five years of experience, indicating that overload threshold become again earlier for the more experienced ones. Situation complexity didn’t reduce overload threshold depending on driving experience. Further analyses with more data will precise these results. More research in this area is needed to find how training can efficiently prepare to unexpected situations, by reducing overload threshold of young novice drivers