Influence of Vehicle Speed on the Characteristics of Driver’s Eye Movement at a Highway Tunnel Entrance during Day and Night Conditions: A Pilot Study

Li Qin, Li-Li Dong, Wen-Hai Xu, Li-Dong Zhang and Arturo S. Leon
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Li Qin: School of Information Science and Technology, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Li-Li Dong: School of Information Science and Technology, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Wen-Hai Xu: School of Information Science and Technology, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Li-Dong Zhang: High-Grade Highway Construction Authority of Jilin Province, Changchun 130012, China
Arturo S. Leon: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate how vehicle speed influences the characteristics of driver’s eye movement at highway tunnel entrances during day and night. In this study, six drivers’ eye movement data (from 200 m before tunnel entrance to 200 m inside tunnel entrance) under five predetermined vehicle speeds (40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 km/h) in the daytime and three predetermined vehicle speeds (40, 60 and 80 km/h) in the nighttime were recorded using the non-intrusive Dikablis Professional eye-tracking system. Pupil size, the average fixation duration time and the average number of fixation were analyzed and then the influence of the vehicle speed on these parameters was evaluated by means of IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. The results for pupil size in daytime increased when approaching the tunnel entrance, while as for nighttime, pupil size decreased when approaching the tunnel entrance and then increased after entering the tunnel. The pupil size in daytime has a significant negative correlation with vehicle speed, while the pupil size in nighttime did not show a significant association with vehicle speed. Furthermore, the average fixation duration in daytime increased when entering the tunnel, and had a significant negative correlation with vehicle speed. Also, the average number of fixations in daytime decreased when entering the tunnel and has a significant negative correlation with vehicle speed. However, the average fixation duration and the average number of fixations in nighttime did not show any significant association with vehicle speed. Moreover, limitations and future directions of the study are discussed for the further investigation.

Keywords: driving safety; eye movement; fixation duration; pupil area; vehicle speed (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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