The instantaneous judgment of distance is frequently required during driving, e.g., in judging the distance necessary to brake safely from a particular speed and in the estimation of distances which would allow safe overtaking. In some overtaking situations, it may be the perception of relative rather than absolute distances which is important. The present study investigated how capable drivers were at making absolute and relative distance judgments from a vehicle travelling at a range of speeds. Drivers had to say when they were a particular distance (1000 ft) from various 'targets' along a specified route, they then had to either halve or quarter this distance. It was found that in relative judgments, the shorter the overall distance the driver was required to fractionate the more accurate was his judgment; although in general, drivers did tend to over-estimate distances relative to each other, i.e., the fractions were always larger than required. Estimates of relative distances unlike those of absolute distances, were unaffected by speed.
Estimation of Distances While Driving
1977
11 pages
Report
No indication
English
Estimation of distances while driving
TIBKAT | 1977
|Engineering Index Backfile | 1968
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 1999
|TIBKAT | 1968
|Tema Archive | 1973
|