Correlation Analysis between Young Driver Characteristics and Visual/Physiological Attributes at Expressway Exit Ramp

Abstract

More collisions occur at the exit ramps of expressways due to frequent lane-changing behavior and interweaving between vehicles. Young drivers with shorter driving mileage and driving experience, radical driving styles, and worse behavior prediction are likelier to be involved in collisions at the exit ramps. This paper focuses on the correlation analysis between young drivers’ characteristics and their visual and physiological attributes at expressway exit ramps. First, the driver’s gender, driving experience, and mileage are classified. Then, seven expressway exit models are established using the UC/Win road modeling software. The driver’s driving plane vision is divided into four areas using the K-means clustering algorithm. In addition, the driver’s visual and heart rate attributes were analyzed at 500 m, 300 m, 200 m, and 100 m away from an expressway exit. The results show that the visual attributes, gender, and driving mileage of young drivers strongly correlate with the fixation times and average saccade amplitude. In contrast, the driving experience has almost no correlation with the fixation behavior of young drivers. Young drivers’ driving experience and mileage strongly correlate with cardiac physiological attributes, but there is virtually no correlation with gender. The practical implications of these results should be helpful to highway planners and designers.