Effects of Fog in a Brazilian Road Segment Analyzed by a Driving Simulator for Sustainable Transport: Drivers’ Visual Profile

Felipe Calsavara, Felipe Issa Kabbach Junior and Ana Paula C. Larocca
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Felipe Calsavara: Department of Transportation Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos 13566-590, SP, Brazil
Felipe Issa Kabbach Junior: Department of Transportation Engineering, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo 05508-070, SP, Brazil
Ana Paula C. Larocca: Department of Transportation Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering (EESC), University of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos 13566-590, SP, Brazil

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: Visibility is a critical factor for drivers to perceive roadway information, and fog is an inclement weather condition that directly impacts their vision, since it reduces both overall contrast and visibility of the driving scene. Visual attention has been considered a contributing factor to traffic crashes, and fog-related accidents are prone to be more severe and involve multiple vehicles. The literature lacks studies on the influence of fog on drivers’ visual performance and environment’s infrastructure design. This article investigates the effects of fog on drivers’ performance in a Brazilian curved road segment through a driving simulator experiment – more precisely, whether the presence of fog (foggy scenario) or its absence (clear scenario) significantly affects the visual profile. In the foggy scenario, the results showed the tracked area was concentrated in a smaller region, despite an increase in the number of fixations compared with the clear scenario. The fixation duration did not change between the scenarios and the pupil dilation was shorter in the foggy one. The study shows the influence of environmental conditions on the driver’s performance and is one of the first on the use of driving simulators with realistic representations of the road infrastructure and its surrounding for the understanding of driving under fog in the Brazilian scenario. Besides roadway geometry elements, driving simulator studies enable analyses of features related to the interaction between route environment and driver’s answer, and can improve safety in places with visibility problems caused by fog, reducing their environmental impact and preserving drivers’ lives.

Keywords: fog; reduced visibility; eye-tracking; visual profile; driving simulator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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