The aim of the study was to investigate whether visual sensitivity, defined as the ability to quickly detect and react to a visual stimulus, could be used to predict drivers ability to drive safely. Ten sleep-deprived and ten alert subjects drove for two hours on a simulation of a motorway, in an advanced driving simulator, and were exposed to a number of critical traffic situations. The results showed that visual sensitivity could predict about 50 % of the subjects' variation in lateral position. Implications for the design of a driver support system, based on measurement of visual sensitivity, are discussed.
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