Physiological indices and driving performance of drivers at tunnel entrances and exits: A simulated driving study.

Jinliang Xu,Huan Liu,Xiaodong Zhang,Fangchen Ma,Kaige Yang,Yufei Sun,Haoru Li,Feng Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243931

Jinliang Xu, Huan Liu + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243931

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Abstract

The entrance and exit sections of a tunnel are the accident black-spots in an expressway. For a safe operation of road tunnels, it is necessary to understand a driver’s physiological indices and driving performance when driving through tunnels. In this study, the UC-Win/Road simulation software was used to build 12 tunnel models of different lengths. A simulated driving experiment was carried out in a 6-DoF motion platform. The lateral position of vehicles characterizing the driving performance was measured using the motion platform. Electrocardiogram and eye movement data of 25 recruited drivers were collected simultaneously through the experiment. The spatial changes in a driver’s heart rate (HR) growth rate, RMSSD, pupil diameter growth rate and vehicle lateral deviation within 300 m before and after the tunnel entrance and exit were analyzed to determine the variation rules in the different tunnels. The study identified the length range in the tunnel entrance and exit sections that influences the drivers. A quantitative analysis was further carried out to analyze the relationship between the physiological indices and the driving performance indicator. The results showed that a driver’s heart rate fluctuates significantly 250 m before the tunnel entrance and 50 m before the exit. In this region, the pupil diameter increases gradually, and drivers tend to shift the vehicle to the left. At the tunnel exit, the HR and RMSSD are affected significantly by the tunnel length, and the variation is higher in longer tunnels. In comparison, the tunnel length has no significant effect on the physiological indicators and driving performance of the drivers at the entrance and exit.

Highlights

One of the main causes of traffic accidents in tunnel entrance and exit sections is the significant variation in the psychophysiological response and behavior of drivers when entering and leaving the tunnel [1,2,3]
The test results show that there is no significant difference in the heart rate (HR) growth rates between the drivers in the different tunnel entrance sections
The tunnel length has no effect on the HR growth rate

Summary

Introduction

One of the main causes of traffic accidents in tunnel entrance and exit sections is the significant variation in the psychophysiological response and behavior of drivers when entering and leaving the tunnel [1,2,3]. Ample studies have been conducted on the physiological indices and driving performance of drivers in tunnels. Fu et al concluded that in-car navigation has a significant influence on a driver’s perceptual response and driving behavior at tunnel. Physiological indices and driving performance of drivers at tunnel entrances and exits ‘author contributions’ section. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study

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