Abstract
Keywords - education, simulation, inner factor, accident, intersection
In this study, we discuss the behavior of drivers without the right of way when entering a non-signalized intersection and propose an educational method for safe driving to help prevent right-angle collisions. The main concept of the proposed educational method is to make a driver diagnosis that estimates incorrect awareness of safe driving (we call it drivers´ inner factors) and quantitatively evaluates the possibility of causing accidents under various hazardous situations. Such a driver diagnosis will enable general drivers to fundamentally improve their unsafe driving behaviors with inner factors. The proposed educational method is composed of the following five educational methods: [1] showing the usual driving behavior of a subject, [2] showing the desirable driving behavior of the skilled driver, [3] evaluating the possibility of causing an accident using a simulation, [4] showing a driver diagnosis table for revealing the subject´s own problem, and [5] teaching a concrete method for improving unsafe driving behaviors and inner factors.
Using the proposed educational method, we educated eight subjects who often exhibited unsafe driving behaviors. Based on the actual driving behavior data before and after conducting the educational method, we examined the effectiveness of the method by using several indexes. Furthermore, in order to judge whether the subjects´ driving behaviors sufficiently maintained safety, we compared driving behaviors of the subjects with those of two skilled drivers who had high awareness of safe driving. The experimental results revealed that many subjects exhibited safer driving behaviors after the education than before the education. In particular, they increased the number of times and the total time for making safety checks. This is because the subjects raised their awareness of the existence of a bicycle that might appear from behind walls and a crossing car that has the possibility of crashing into the subject´s car. In addition, the subjects sufficiently slowed down around the position where their cars entered the crossing road. This is because the subjects had correct awareness of the slow-down speed at which they could stop after perceiving a crossing car. On the other hand, the subjects should improve some unsafe driving behaviors on the basis of the skilled drivers´ behaviors. For example, some subjects didn´t stop or sufficiently slow down at the stop-line and didn´t continue making a safety check until they could look over the crossing road. In the future, we will modify the educational method and establish a more effective method for safe driving.