Title: Impacts of countermeasures on driving performance through drivers' attention in rural curves: a driving simulation study

Authors: Hongyue Wu; Yunfeng Chen; Weinan Gao; Osahon Iroghama; Junan Shen

Addresses: Construction Automation, Robotics, and Ergonomics (CARE) Lab, School of Construction Management Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA ' Construction Automation, Robotics, and Ergonomics (CARE) Lab, School of Construction Management Technology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA ' State Key Laboratory of Synthetical Automation for Process Industries, Northeastern University, Shenyang, Liaoning, China ' Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA ' Department of Civil Engineering and Construction, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA

Abstract: Drivers' attention is a critical factor influencing traffic safety. However, limited work explained the relationships between countermeasures, drivers' attention, and driving performance in rural curves. This study explores the impacts of countermeasures on driving performance through attention under different weather conditions and traffic flows using an experiment with a driving simulator and an eye tracker. The multivariate regression analysis verified the mediating role of cognitive workload measured by changes in pupil diameter on the relations between countermeasures and driving performance. Then, all the countermeasures were effective in ensuring driving performance. The rank of effectiveness was provided. In addition, the effectiveness of countermeasures varied across weather conditions and traffic flows. The paper contributed new insights into the relationships between countermeasures and driving performance by incorporating drivers' attention. In practice, recommendations are provided to improve traffic safety in rural curves under different external environments.

Keywords: countermeasures; rural curve; drivers' attention; driving performance; traffic safety; driving simulation; eye tracker; eye movement; multivariate regression analysis; mediating effect; weather condition; traffic flow.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMIC.2023.133182

International Journal of Modelling, Identification and Control, 2023 Vol.43 No.3, pp.215 - 232

Received: 22 Jun 2022
Received in revised form: 06 Aug 2022
Accepted: 07 Aug 2022
Published online: 01 Sep 2023 *

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