Exploring the effects of road type on drivers’ eye behavior and workload

Abstract

The number of traffic accidents is increasing every year. This study researched the effect of road type on driver’s workload and eye behavior. The results showed that the road type has an effect on workload, pupil diameter, fixation rate and number of fixations. The workload, pupil diameter, fixation rate and number of fixations have a positive correlation with the complexity of road conditions. The research on visual attention area found that the driver’s attention area during driving includes the rear-view mirror, left mirror, right mirror and middle area of the interface. In addition, the search range in the horizontal direction is largest under the urban road condition. Drivers focus on the ahead situation in the expressway condition, and the driver focuses on the opposite and front road in the rural road condition. The research results can be used for drivers’ training in the future.

KEYWORDS:

• traffic accidents
• road type
• workload
• eye behavior

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted in the Laboratory of the College of Mechanical Engineering at Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. The authors thank the reviewers for their valuable comments. At the same time, the authors express their gratitude to the participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.