Advantages of using a driving simulator in driver training

Although the use of a driving simulator in driver training has many advantages for the learner, driving instructors are often hesitant to use one. Students sometimes prefer to start their training in a real car and think of a simulator as a game. However, a driving simulator is definitely not a game – you learn the skills you need to drive a car safely.

Effectiveness

In a good simulator, the emphasis is on traffic engagement, traffic rules, and traffic management in realistic traffic scenarios, and not exclusively on vehicle control. And these are precisely the skills that are most difficult to learn in a learning car. A good driving simulator has the following properties:

Skills are trained in such a way as to avoid mental overload of the student. The training focuses on automating driving tasks such as gear change, lane change, steering techniques, scanning when approaching an intersection, navigating roundabouts, entering a highway, overtaking, etc.

A large number of traffic situations are practiced in a short period of time, allowing the student to gain sufficient driving experience. In a simulator, specific skills can be trained very effectively. For example, in one hour of time, the learner can drive in a virtual world and find many more intersections than when driving a learner car in the real world. As you approach each intersection, visual scanning, use of indication and change, speed control and priority rules can be trained and evaluated very effectively. Lack of driving experience in relevant traffic situations is one of the most important aspects of driver training and is an important determinant of driver safety.

During a typical lesson in a learning car, the instructor has little control over instructive traffic situations: they happen more or less randomly. During lessons in a simulator, instructional scenarios result in timely learning moments with high training value and guaranteed to happen. A simulator lesson is guaranteed to be effective for all students.

· A good simulator has a ‘virtual instructor’, who assesses the learner’s behavior on an ongoing basis. Provides immediate feedback every time the student makes a mistake. This quick and systematic feedback results in faster learning from mistakes.

In a simulator, students learn to drive in a safe and stress-free environment. The consequences of a mistake are not as serious as in the real world. Most people learn faster and better when they feel safe and relaxed.

Safety

A study in the USA clearly showed that learning to drive in a simulator has positive effects on traffic safety. The accident rate of students trained in a simulator was reduced to 34% of the national average in the two years after training. This equates to a 66% reduction in the number of young driver accidents.

When looking for a driving school, students are encouraged to see which one has a simulator. You can learn to drive better and it can also be cheaper.