Assessment of Highway Available Sight Distances Under Disability Glare Using a Field-of-View Model and Traffic-Signboard Recognition

Abstract

Assessing available sight distances (ASDs) affected by disability glare on highways is essential for establishing a relationship among ASDs, sun ray variations, roadside occlusions, and the driver's field-of-view. This study proposes a novel disability-glare-coupled ASD (DG-ASD) assessment method for two-lane highways. The method involves simulating road glare using sun ray simulations and ray occlusion identification, evaluating ASDs through a gaze-based field-of-view model combined with a primary line-of-sight function, and quantifying the reduction in ASDs caused by disability glare. Three road datasets are analysed to validate the proposed method. The proposed ray occlusion algorithm reduced computation time by approximately 89.9%, and the efficiency of the proposed field-of-view model improved by 97.40%. On average, DG-ASDs were approximately 42 m shorter than ASDs without the influence of disability glare. The findings of this research contribute to enhancing intelligent navigation systems and roadside infrastructure by enabling timely alerts for insufficient ASDs caused by disability glare.This research assessing ASDs affected by disability glare on highways, and contributes to enhancing intelligent navigation systems and roadside infrastructure by enabling timely alerts for insufficient ASDs caused by disability glare.