Driver Behavior as Affected by Obstructions on Both Sides

Visual and driving behavior of novice and experienced drivers is investigated when they negotiate the vehicle between standing or moving obstructions (pedestrian and vehicle) on both sides. As the driving tasks became difficult, they sampled the right obstruction at a higher rate than the left one regardless of the position of pedestrian or vehicle. However, the novice drivers whose skill acquisition speed was slow tended to increase their fixation rate for the vehicle's direction of travel. With respect to driving behavior, vehicle speed at the meeting point for the novice drivers was faster than that for the experienced drivers. The novice drivers drove on the right obstruction side systematically irrespective of the driving tasks.