01663304

Component

Driving behaviour is an inherently complex process affected by various factors ranging from network topography, traffic conditions and vehicle features to driver characteristics like age, experience, aggressiveness and emotional state. The effect of emotional state has received attention in the context of accident analysis and safety research where driving behaviour has been found to be affected by drivers’ mental state/stress, cognitive workload and distraction. However, these studies are mostly based on questionnaire surveys and self-reports which can be prone to response bias and reporting/measurement errors. On a parallel stream, advances in sensor technologies have made it possible to observe drivers’ stress through human physiological responses, e.g. heart rate, electro-dermal activity etc. However, these studies have been primarily focused on detecting stress rather than quantifying or modelling its effects on driving decisions. The present paper combines these two approaches in a single framework and investigates the gap-acceptance behaviour of drivers in an intersection crossing scenario with data collected using a driving simulator. The participants are subjected to stress induced by time pressure and their stress levels are measured using physiological indicators namely, skin conductance and heart rate. In addition to statistical analyses, discrete choice models are developed to build mathematical relationships between the accept-reject choices and the driver demographics, traffic conditions and stress levels. The results of the models indicate significant impacts of stress levels leading to increased probabilities of accepting a gap. The insights from the results can be used for designing appropriate intervention strategies.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AND10 Standing Committee on Vehicle User Characteristics. Alternate title: Modeling the Effects of Stress on Gap-Acceptance Decisions in a Driving Simulator Experiment Using Physiological Sensors

18-05539

English

15p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Photos; References; Tables

Behavior; Driving; Driving simulators; Gap acceptance; Highway safety; Intersections; Stress (Psychology)

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-05539

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 11:24AM