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Effect of Speed on Driver’s Visual Attention: A Study Using a Driving Simulator

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Abstract

Road crashes are among the main causes of death worldwide, and driver’s attention during driving is the major source of such crashes. Moreover, the likelihood of a car crash increases proportionally to increases in speed. This study investigates the influence of vehicle’s speed on the characteristics of a driver’s attention during the driving task. It was conducted in a driving simulator in a section of an existing highway of a high crash index. The driver’s eyes movements were recorded in the virtual scenario at three different speeds, and the following three movement measures were collected: time of fixation (F) (in seconds), number of fixations (N), and mean fixation (Fm). The mixed design experiment was performed with 12 participants, and the results showed a significant difference in both time of fixation and number of fixations between 70 and 90 km/h, and 70 km/h and 110 km/h. The study enabled the assessment of the relationship between speed and drivers’ attention, since speed has a correlation with the severity of crashes. Drivers driving at lower speeds tend to assess their surroundings more attentively.

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Funding

This work were supported by FAPESP (Grant nos. 2013/25034-5, 2016/13736-3), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Grant nos. 403561/2016-7, 303955/2016-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Transportation Engineering, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, 400 Trabalhador São Carlense Avenue, São Carlos, SP, 13566-590, Brazil

    Luiz Gustavo Buzon, Aurenice C. Figueira, Ana Paula C. Larocca & Paulo Tadeu M. S. Oliveira

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  1. Luiz Gustavo Buzon
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  2. Aurenice C. Figueira
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  3. Ana Paula C. Larocca
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  4. Paulo Tadeu M. S. Oliveira
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Correspondence to Ana Paula C. Larocca.

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Buzon, L.G., Figueira, A.C., Larocca, A.P.C. et al. Effect of Speed on Driver’s Visual Attention: A Study Using a Driving Simulator. Transp. in Dev. Econ. 8, 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40890-021-00139-y

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