Available data according to the Cyprus Police (2020) reveal that 1) careless and dangerous driving is the main cause of accidents, 2) the majority of victims do not use a seat belt (56%) or helmet (48%) and 3) men are more vulnerable than women (4 out of 5 victims). In addition, there are interesting facts about driver behaviour, such as 1) speeding tickets are higher than the EU average, 2) fatal accidents are higher than the EU average, 3) fatal accidents in residential areas and at intersections are very high in Cyprus compared to the EU average (European Commission 2017). Furthermore, reports indicate that 95% of road traffic fatalities in Cyprus in 2019 were caused by human factors, while the link between drug consumption and driving is gradually increasing (In Cyprus 2020). Overall, it can be concluded that road safety is one of the most critical issues for the Cypriot society, but at the same time there is limited research on this topic. The establishment of the SLC and more specifically the Simulation Laboratory will be a starting point for new studies in the field of Road Safety as well as for a number of related issues. Finally, in the international literature there are numerous experiments using driving simulators, such as studies on attention, vigilance, workload, perception, measures of the influence of driving behaviour, effects of exposure to phobias and anxiety while driving, effects of alcohol and drugs on behaviour, etc. All of these conditions and situations are variables that we seek to study in the LSC.

The installation and operation of the Driving Simulator in the LSC incorporates many innovative aspects, which are summarised in the following points:

1. It is the first laboratory of its kind, with the first driving simulator in Cyprus.
2. It is the first equipped laboratory available for research purposes for various disciplines such as Social Work, Psychology, Nursing, Law, Automotive Engineering, etc., as well as for Frederick University staff and students.
3. It is the first equipped laboratory available for educational purposes involving college students, high school students, driving schools, etc.
4. The laboratory will be interfaced with various public authorities and other organizations, e.g. Ministry of Justice and Public Order, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, Cyprus Police, Local Authorities, Schools, NGOs, etc.

The SDL and more specifically the Driving Simulator is available to all members of the academic community at Frederick University, as well as the wider academic community in Cyprus, in order to support various research activities. These activities are briefly described below.

Psychology and Social Sciences

• Study of human behavior, aggressive behavior, memory recall, participant's change of emotion after driving, etc.
• Study of risky driving behavior, control and review of intervening variables (e.g., cell phone), etc.
• Study of cognitive learning, decision-making skills and situational awareness.
• Education
• Use of the driving simulator as a tool for teaching skills and competences beyond driving skills.
• Promote driver training for young drivers.

Nursing

• The SDL will be used to assess psychomotor balance, visual perception and empathy level of individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
• In addition, during crises such as a pandemic, replacement of labs with virtual reality simulation and placement through simulation scenarios will be available.

Legal

• Study of knowledge about the laws governing driver-vehicle interaction.
• Study of prohibited actions/behaviours on the road (e.g. drink driving).

Automotive engineering

• Study in vehicle dynamics and control, modelling of various types of suspension to obtain feedback data from vehicle behaviour. In addition, it can be used in model simulations of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD).
• Study of various variables related to driving behaviour, such as reaction time, average driving speed, fuel consumption, reaction time when pedestrians are present, object observation ability, distance from the car in front, etc.

Electrical, Computer and Information Engineering

• Study around the use of good practices for data collection, data management and data visualization from the driving simulator.
• Application of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques for data analysis, pattern recognition, classification and detection of behaviours, etc.