Effect of High-Altitude Environment on Driving Safety: A Study on Drivers’ Mental Workload, Situation Awareness, and Driving Behaviour

Xinyan Wang,Suping Cui,Weihua Yang,Wu Bo,Pengzi Chu

doi:10.1155/2020/7283025

Xinyan Wang, Suping Cui + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/7283025

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Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effect of high-altitude environment on drivers’ mental workload (MW), situation awareness (SA), and driving behaviour (DB), and to explore the relationship among those driving performances. Based on a survey, the data of 356 lowlanders engaging in driving activities at Tibetan Plateau (high-altitude group) and 341 lowlanders engaging in driving activities at low altitudes (low-altitude group) were compared and analyzed. The results suggest that the differences between the two groups are noteworthy. Mental workload of high-altitude group is significantly higher than that of low-altitude group, and their situation awareness is lower significantly. The possibility of risky driving behaviours for high-altitude group, especially aggressive violations, is higher. For the high-altitude group, the increase of mental workload can lead to an increase on aggressive violations, and the situation understanding plays a full mediating effect between mental workload and aggressive violations. Measures aiming at the improvement of situation awareness and the reduction of mental workload can effectively reduce the driving risk from high-altitude environment for lowlanders.

Highlights

Road traffic injury is the leading cause of death, for persons aged 5–29 years [1]
For drivers from lowaltitudes, the high-altitude environment can lead to greater mental workload, worse situation awareness, and more risky driving behaviors, especially aggressive violations
The mental workload and the situation understanding can affect the frequency of aggressive violations

Summary

Introduction

Road traffic injury is the leading cause of death, for persons aged 5–29 years [1]. Physical activity at high altitude for lowlanders can induce acute mountain sickness (AMS) [5, 6], and even diseases, such as hypertension [7]. E status of traffic safety in the region needs to be improved. According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, for Tibet, there were 363 traffic accidents, 124 death tolls, and 2.43 million yuan’s property damage caused by traffic accidents in 2018. The region’s permanent population at the end of the year was only 3.44 million, indicating the road safety condition was not optimistic. There are many floating populations from low altitudes taking driving activity, a kind of physical work, in Tibet

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