Analysis of Driver Behavior based on Experiences of Road Traffic Incidents investigated by means of Questionnaires for the Reduction of Road Traffic Accidents

The number of persons injured due to Traffic Accidents in Japan has exceeded 1 million during each of the past eight years (as of 2006), and reducing the number of traffic accidents has become an urgent issue. We believe that reducing the opportunities for encountering traffic incidents, which may lead to traffic accidents, is an effective means of reducing the number of traffic accidents. Previous analysis of traffic incidents using drive recorders was conducted primarily to analyze the factors which cause traffic accidents and to analyze driver behavior. This study utilized a questionnaire investigation to collect examples of traffic incidents which occur during ordinary driving, analyzed the driver behavior and driver mental and physical states immediately before encountering the traffic incident, and identified driver characteristics which make traffic incidents more likely. We also conducted a comparison with the regression analysis results from previous research concerning daytime subjective sleepiness – a factor that is likely to lead to serious accidents. Based on these results, we propose a direction for further research concerning physiological signal-driven driving support systems that detect driver physiological signals in order to prevent traffic accidents.