Influence of spatial visual conditions in tunnel on driver behavior: Considering the route familiarity of drivers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate how route familiarity affected drivers’ eye movement features (fixation and saccade) and driving speed when driving in the entrance zone of highway tunnels with different spatial visual conditions. On-road tests were conducted on the drivers’ visual characteristics and the speed were recorded in real time using an eye tracker and onboard diagnostic system. The variations in the eye movement features and speed in the entrance zone of the tunnels were analyzed. Then, statistical methods were conducted to examine the influence of the route familiarity and spatial visual conditions of tunnels on the driver behavior. The results demonstrated that the variations in the drivers’ eye movements and speed were much more significant in the entrance zone of a tunnel without spatial intervisibility than in a tunnel with spatial intervisibility. The impact of this environmental transition on unfamiliar drivers was greater than that on familiar drivers. Road familiarity reduced the drivers’ period of adaptation to the tunnel entrance environment and increased the driving speed.