Abstract
Drivers gather traffic information primarily by means of their vision. Especially during complicated maneuvers, such as overtaking, they need to perceive a variety of characteristics including the lateral and longitudinal distances with other vehicles, the speed of others vehicles, lane occupancy, and so on, to avoid crashes. The primary object of this study is to examine the appropriate visual search patterns during overtaking maneuvers on freeways. We designed a series of driving simulating experiments in which the type and speed of the leading vehicle were considered as two influential factors. One hundred and forty participants took part in the study. The participants overtook the leading vehicles just like they would usually do so, and their eye movements were collected by use of the Eye Tracker. The results show that participants’ gaze durations and saccade durations followed normal distribution patterns and that saccade angles followed a log-normal distribution pattern. It was observed that the type of leading vehicle significantly impacted the drivers’ gaze duration and gaze frequency. As the speed of a leading vehicle increased, subjects’ saccade durations became longer and saccade angles became larger. In addition, the initial and destination lanes were found to be key areas with the highest visual allocating proportion, accounting for more than 65% of total visual allocation. Subjects tended to more frequently shift their viewpoints between the initial lane and destination lane in order to search for crucial traffic information. However, they seldom directly shifted their viewpoints between the two wing mirrors.
Highlights
Overtaking is one of the most common events observed on freeways
This study focuses on presenting an appropriate visual search strategy during overtaking maneuvers which may be applied to correct some drivers’ visual behavior and improve traffic safety
Gaze Behavior consisted of what was captured between the appearance of overtaking signals and the completion of overtaking
Summary
When the speed of a leading vehicle is lower than expected, the following vehicle will accelerate and overtake it [1]. A sequence of overtaking typically consists of three phases, namely lane-changing, accelerating, and lane-returning. The driver in a following vehicle ought to observe traffic conditions in the destination lane by use of the left wing mirror, and search for an appropriate opportunity to change lanes. The driver should successfully capture the motion of the leading vehicle in order to keep a safe horizontal space, and constantly observe the longitudinal traffic conditions in order to keep a safe headway. Before returning to the initial lane, the driver will estimate headways with other vehicles by use of the right wing mirror. Overtaking lasts only several seconds, drivers should have a prior or concurrent observation, analysis, and judgment in order to make successful decisions [2]
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