Summary: The Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to build a $32 million state-of-the-art driving simulator at the University of Iowa. The simulator, housed in a 50-foot-high experimental bay that can mimic road conditions, will assist in research to reduce the number of deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from traffic accidents. It is expected to begin operating in 1996. Although the simulator's benefits cannot now be quantified in terms of lives or dollars saved, DOT believes that the simulator will improve the effectiveness of its vehicle safety, highway construction, and other programs. The simulator will allow a variety of kinds of research that are not possible today, such as measuring the influence of different prescription drug doses on a driver. Current estimates and funding sources for the simulator are sketchy. A better picture of the simulator's cost and performance will be available once the two design contracts are completed in fiscal year 1993. A funding commitment from sources other than DOT has yet to be pinned down, although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has officially asked the private sector to make a financial contribution.
