The researchers found that the change in noise shifted people's speed perception. "When the noise in the car is made quieter, people think they're going about 5 kilometers an hour slower than they would otherwise," said Horswill. Horswill got the idea for the study while driving in a luxury car lent to his research team. "It was the poshest car we ever had," he said. "We found that we were accidentally going way over the speed limit very very fast, but inside the car it was so nice you barely had any sensation of movement at all." Horswill's conclusions are also supported by other studies. He has previously studied people's perception of appropriate speed as they watched video-based driving scenes, from the point of view of the driver. People were asked whether they would go faster or slower than the videoed driver as the noise of the moving car was adjusted. "When we turned the car noises down, people chose to drive faster," said Horswill. Horswill has also done studies to show that that given a high performance car people will drive faster than those driving a lower performance car. "It's pretty clear that if people are given a car that is more powerful then they will drive it faster and more dangerously," he said. Related Links: |
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