The effect of driving speed on driver's visual attention: Experimental investigation

Abstract

It has been reported that the increase in driving speed incurs a shortened pupil distance, termed as a visual tunneling phenomenon. However, our experimental investigation shows that the effect of driving speed on driver's visual attention should be understood in terms of the maximum field of view that can balance against the maximum amount of visual information a driver can take/handle against. More specifically, our experimentation shows the following: For the sake of ensuring safety, drivers tend naturally to take as much visual information as possible, should it be allowed in terms of the maximum amount of visual information they can take/handle. However, the maximum visual information a driver can take/handle is different among individuals according to their level of driving expertise. Since the increase of driving speed increases the amount of visual information to process, a driver may be able to expand their field of view only up to the point where the amount of visual information to process balances the maximum amount he/she can take/handle. Beyond this point, the increased anxiety stress may even further reduce the maximum visual information a driver can take/handle, thus further diminishing the field of view, leading to a tunneling effect. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.