Research on drivers' hazard perception in plateau environment based on visual characteristics

Abstract

A good visual search mode is an important prerequisite for a driver to perceive the hazard in the traffic environment timely and accurately. However, hypoxia conditions in the plateau environment might affect drivers' cognitive and judgment ability, posing potential threats to safe driving. This study analyzed the eye movement behaviors of drivers when faced with traffic hazards in the plateau environment, to examine the impact level of altitude on drivers’ perception and reaction. Nine typical traffic hazard scenarios were investigated at four locations with four different altitudes, including Linzhi, Lhasa, Naqu, and Yanghu Scenic Area based on UC-WIN / ROAD driving simulation software. Then, drivers’ visual search modes were analyzed according to drivers’ eye movement data collected by ASL Mobile Eye monocular eye tracker. As the altitude increased, the drivers’ first fixation time and the average saccade amplitude decreased, while the fixation duration percentage increased. Drivers with fewer years of driving experience had a larger percentage of fixation duration and a smaller saccade amplitude. In addition, a shorter acclimation period also negatively influenced the percentage of fixation time. The increase of altitude would weaken the drivers' visual sensitivity and cognitive processing ability of hazard information, which would reduce drivers' hazard perception skills, and the increase of driving experience might help alleviate such negative impacts to some extent. Based on the visual characteristics of traffic hazard scenarios obtained in this paper, the training of highly accident-prone drivers can be guided specifically to improve their visual search strategies, thereby improving driving safety.