The future of driver training and driver instructor education in Norway with increasing ADAS technology in cars

Abstract

On average, more than two people are killed or severely injured every day in Norway in road traffic. Hence, elements that benefit a decrease in this number will be welcomed, such as "Advanced Driver-Assist System" (ADAS) technology. However, increasing technology in cars might require new driving skills compared to those taught today and the transition to more and new technology could potentially increase the accident rate. In the safety industry, it is well known that training for new and more automated technology is important. This raises a question: How does the transition to new, more complex and more automated technology affect driver training and the education of driver instructors? At the present time, there are no clear answers to this question. However, it seems that there is a need for a discussion and potentially a redefinition on which driver skills should be required, and how to implement these skills. This is what we attempt to discuss in this paper.

Exploring How Automated Technology and Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) Are Taught in the Norwegian Driver-Training Industry. A Qualitative Study

“…Over the past three to four years, there has been a slight increase in scientific literature on how to deal with the new technological solutions in the driver-training industry (Forster et al 2019;Lubkowski et al 2021;Saetren et al 2018). In addition, Manser et al (2019), in a report on driver-training guidelines for automated vehicle technology in the United States, identified five levels of educational requirements for skills and knowledge drivers should be trained on when using advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS):…”

“…To identify up-to-date literature on the topic of teaching ADAS technology, we conducted a literature review. We used the Oria and Google Scholar search engines and set the timeframe to the past five years to yield the most recent literature and because little was written on this topic before that (Saetren et al 2018). The search terms were 'teaching automation', 'driver behaviour', 'driver instructor and automated technology', 'driver training and automated technology', and 'advanced driver-assistance systems'.…”

“…It also differs between car manufacturers, resulting in a lack of standardization. The driver-training industry must consider the rapid pace of development in their training and pedagogical teaching (Saetren et al 2018). However, how the Norwegian drivertraining industry use new technology, present it for learner drivers, and teach it for desired learning outcomes have not been explored.…”

Is the Education of Driver Instructors in Norway in Line with the Technological Development?

“…Cars are rapidly being developed with new advanced automated technology, which can be divided into different levels --from level 0, where the driver performs all operations, to level 5, where the car is fully autonomous, and the person in the car has changed status from driver to passenger (SAE 2021). Research in human factors has revealed that new technological solutions often lead to different human errors and change the risk factors rather than eliminating them (Saetren and Laumann 2015); therefore, it is necessary to consider which new skills and competencies current and future drivers need and how they should be acquired (Saetren et al 2018).…”

Perception of Driving Simulations: Can the Level of Detail of Virtual Scenarios Affect the Driver's Behavior and Emotions?

“…Even if simulators cannot fully replicate the realworld experience, they offer the researcher an advantage that real-world studies cannot match: the ability to control and repeat experimental conditions and create prescribed scenarios with selected variables [9]. This enables manipulating several variables for revealing different driver responses to dissimilar conditions in a short timeframe, which would be substantially impossible otherwise [8], [10]. The multiple variables influencing drivers' behaviors [11] might be subjective or environmental, that in turn can be temporary and nontemporary [12]; for instance, in the first case, we can assess the driving performance according to age [13] or the effects of alcohol, drugs, and/or fatigue on driving behavior [14], whereas in the second case it is possible to appraise the driving performance in different environmental conditions, such as different types of adverse weather conditions or day/night hours [15].…”