The advantages of using a driving simulator for driver training

Driving simulators are increasingly being used as a didactic tool in driver training and education. Because the hardware has become more affordable and the quality of the simulators has improved over the past years, more and more driving instructors have decided to add simulator training to their curriculum. Also, in a number of countries governments are contemplating to add simulator training as a mandatory component of driver training.

There are several advantages of using a car driving simulator for driver training.

• A high quality of training for all students. Since the quality of driver training is poor in a number of countries while traffic fatalities are high, training in a simulator guarantees a certain level of quality for all learner drivers.
• Because relevant driver skills can be consistenty practiced much better than in a real car on the road, the trainee gets much more driving experience in less time. This greatly enhances training efficiency.
• More efficient transfer of controlled to automatic processing, which results in safer driving. Separate driving tasks, such as lane changing, can be practiced and repeated again and again. without the trainee being distracted by other dangers on the road.
• Consistent and immediate feedback by a virtual instructor, which enhances speed of learning
• Complete and reliable evaluation after each lesson. The progress of the sudent is documented automatically and all aspects of the driving tasks are evaluated.
• All students receive the same training content, and all aspects of the driving task, ranging from gear shifting to filtering in on highways, are covered. So, completeness is guaranteed.
• Training in a safe environment without stress. Stress inhibits the efficient development of skills.
• A quaranteed supply of instructive traffic situations. During an hour of driving on the road in a real car the occurence of instructive traffic situations varies a lot. Sometimes nothing happens and sometimes there’s a lot of traffic, so the real world is verfy unpredictable. For efficient learning, you need predictable and carefully chosen learning situations.
• Fewer hours in a car on the road which amounts to less fuel consumption which is beneficial to the environment.
• The use of a driving simulator increases capacity of the driving school, while it reduces costs.
• Special circumstances, such as nightdriving, snow and rain, can be practiced anytime.

So, in conclusion, driver training in a simulator brings a lot of advantages. After the simulator training phase, the trainee can start driving in a learner car with much more self confidence, because the most important driving skills have already been learned.

Check the following post to see how driving simulator training actually works.

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