Drivers in Expressway Superlong Tunnels: The Change Patterns of Visual Features and the Discriminant Model of Driving Safety

Abstract

A real-vehicle experiment was carried out in the superlong highway tunnel environment to study the change patterns of driver’s visual features, tracked by eye tracking devices, and the discriminant model of driver’s safety status. On the basis of statistical analysis, a single index and a comprehensive index discriminant model, both based on a C4.5 decision tree, were established. The results showed that compared with the non-tunnel highway sections, the driver’s pupil size was larger, and the gaze duration was longer in the tunnel section. Driver’s pupil size was larger in mid-tunnel section than in the entrance section and exit section. Gazes at the exit section were mainly short gazes. Compared to the exit section, driver’s pupil size changed more dramatically in the entrance section, and the gaze duration was longer. The single visual parameter indicator could clearly discriminate the driver’s safety status in the mid-tunnel section and the non-tunnel sections, while the dual-index-based identification model could clearly discriminate the safety status in each highway sections. The study deepens the research on the driver information perception model in superlong highway tunnels. Also, the study provides a theoretical basis for establishing a visual-feature-based real-time safety status discriminant.