Spectral Analysis of Driver Steering Behavior

Abstract

In order to examine the utility of spectral analysis as a means of quantifying driver steering behavior in a steady-state (expressway) driving task, 10 novice and 10 experienced drivers drove an instrumented car on a 90-minute drive on an “uncongested” expressway, and (for the experienced drivers only) on a 60-minute drive on a “congested” expressway during rush-hour conditions. Results of analyses of variance of RMS steering amplitude in 0.025 hz-wide frequency bands indicated that novice drivers exhibited significantly greater RMS steering amplitude than experienced drivers in the two frequency bands 0–0.025 hz and 0.125–0.150 hz, and that experienced drivers exhibited significantly greater RMS amplitude on the “congested” expressway than the “uncongested” expressway in the six 0.025 hz-wide frequency bands between 0 and 0.150 hz. Significant differences were found between RMS amplitudes measured during the first and second halves of a number of the test drives, indicating that behavior in the two test halves was not equivalent.