From Vision to Action: Experiments and Models of Steering Control During Driving

Experienced drivers performed simple steering maneuvers in the absence of continuous visual input. Experiments conducted in a driving simulator assessed drivers' performance of lane corrections during brief visual occlusion and examined those visual cues that guide steering. The dependence of steering behavior on heading, speed, and lateral position at the start of the maneuver was measured. Drivers adjusted steering amplitude with heading and performed the maneuver more rapidly at higher speeds. These dependencies were unaffected by a 1.5-second visual occlusion at the start of the maneuver. Longer occlusions resulted in severe performance degradation. Two steering control models, developed to account for these findings, are described and discussed.