Overview
From the moment of cars' appearance in the beginning of our century, four main principals prevailed in each period's way of thought: up to the first quarter of the century 'the control of vehicles as if they were coaches', up to the end of 60's 'the domination on the circulation', up to the end of 70's 'the control of the road transport system', and for the last 10 years 'the control of combined transport systems'. These main principals determined the work of road safety, the objectives, the measures, the investment capital and the relevant research and theories trends, as future main principal emerges 'the obliteration of serious accidents from the combined transport system'.
This work aims at contributing considerably to the achievement of this global principal, offering a means -driving simulator- for the optimisation of road safety and the maximisation of safety already provided to road users. One of the most important characteristics of the simulator is the possibility of reliable and completely controlled study and determination of the components of each vehicle's drivers' behaviour in any road environment and under any traffic and weather circumstances. Outcoming result is a more proper confrontation of road safety problems, and consequently a better management of existing transport systems and more suitable planning of future growth of these systems in Greece and world-wide.
The objective of the implementation study is the collection of all essential elements that are required for the most equitable and effective implementation of the driving simulator so as to meet the requirements and needs of the user and the society in general. At the same time, the implementation study also determines the required relative cost and the human specialities needed for the achievement of the objective.
The methodology of the application study included the following phases:
- pointing out and recording the most serious causes of accidents in Greece for both private cars and lorries;
- carrying out a market research for the identification of the needs of Greek market as regards the utilisation of a driving simulator, by using questionnaires;
- carrying out a market research for tracking down the most reliable, efficient and economic driving simulators and softwares for driving simulators in the international market;
- carrying out a market research for tracking down the most reliable, efficient and economic computers (workstations) and projection systems for driving simulators in the Greek market;
- crossing and analysing the above parametres for the decision-making as regards the purchase of software and its adaptation in Greek facts;
- combining all the above mentioned parameters for designing the driving simulator; and
- drawing out a technical and economical management plan for the simulator’s operation phase.