DRIVER SEARCH AND SCAN PATTERNS IN NIGHT DRIVING

Because the rates of nighttime accidents are higher than daytime accidents, much research has been directed to the unique problems of night driving. Many researchers concur that the driver receives most of his or her information through the visual system. During night driving, the visual cues normally available during daytime are reduced. Whether this paucity of visual information is related to the higher night accident rate is not known. A basic approach to the problem is to identify through visual search patterns the driver's use of night driving cues. Identification of driver visual needs in night driving can eventually lead to improved night driving safety. This paper discusses and presents the results of two studies to investigate drivers' visual search patterns in night driving. The first study compares nighttime visual search behavior to daytime behavior on freeways and rural highways. The second study develops methods of using driver visual search data to evaluate illumination at rural highway intersections, which have high rates of nighttime accidents.

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