The two-point visual control model of steering - new empirical evidence

Formal models of human steering behavior can enhance our understanding of perceptual and cognitive processes involved in lateral control. One such model is the two-point visual control model of steering proposed by Salvucci and Gray [8]. An experiment was conducted to test one of its central assumptions, namely that people use information coming from only two locations, a near region about 8m in front of the car and a far region 0,9s down the road, for lane keeping. 42 subjects completed a simulated driving task; road visibility was either unrestricted or reduced according to the assumptions of the two-point model. Additionally, the subjects could either freely choose where to look or had to fixate a target located in the far region. Analysis of steering precision data showed that reduced visibility did not reduce steering precision, thus lending support to the near/far region assumption of the two-point model.