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In this paper, authors discuss a driving simulator that was developed to study a driver's mental state in a traffic accident occurring between vehicles at an intersection. The functions of the driving simulator and a video annotation system for analyzing human behavior and human cognitive processes are discussed. Also described is how to estimate a driver's mental state by using physiological indices when the driver is distracted in addition to the experimental plan established.

In this paper, we use electrocardiogram (ECG) measurements to detect a driver's mental state and to investigate the relations between the driver's heart rate and his/her behavior while driving. We use a driving simulator to simulate traffic accidents between cars at an intersection. Experiments are conducted to collect physiological data while a subject drives an experimental course and when he/she is distracted by extraneous thoughts. We found that there were many cases in which the heart rate decreased or increased during an accident or an incident at an intersection Moreover, we found that many drivers who caused a car accident did not see a stop sign when he/she entered an intersection and caused the accident. We assume that there may be some relation between heart rate and the occurrence of a human error that results in driver causing a car accident at an intersection.

The authors performed an experiment on a collision avoidance system (CAS) by using a driving simulator. A driver is exposed to a variety of events designed with the support system. In each event, based on whether the brakes were operated, we proposed two indices, namely the alarm ignorance ratio and the fail-safe ratio, to indicate the degree of the driver's dependence on the support system. In addition, from the simplified NASA-TLX and the post-experiment interview, the driver's mental workload was measured. Based on the degree of dependence, the authors plan to design a support system that collaborates with the driver.

We conducted an experiment to evaluate the operational convenience and the influence on safe driving of a new human-machine interface (HMI) by using a driving simulator (DS). In this system a driver operates the new HMI and center-cluster panel switches while driving on an expressway and when encountering a sudden danger. Based on the results, we discuss the operational convenience and driving safety when operating an HMI while driving on a virtual expressway.

We conducted experiments to collect data on vehicle speed to investigate the movement of a car without the right of way passing through an intersection. Movement was measured at each moment by the distance between the stop line and the car. This was accomplished by using video cameras and a laser displacement meter. We analyzed drivers' common driving behavior when passing through an intersection without the right of way.