Effects of driver compensatory behaviour on risks of critical pedestrian collisions under simulated visual field defects

Abstract

Compensatory behaviour is regarded as a helpful strategy to mediate drivers' deteriorated hazard perception ability due to visual field defects. However, helpfulness of compensatory behaviour for drivers with advanced visual field defects has largely unexplored. This study aims to clarify the effectiveness and limitation of compensatory head movements in critical situations where included pedestrians stepping off a sidewalk under the simulation of advanced visual defects. 18 healthy-sighted drivers participated the data collection that was conducted in a driving simulator under three driving conditions: (1) without visual impairment, (2) with visual impairment and not performing active compensation, and (3) with visual impairment but performing active compensation. The result showed that active compensation led quick accelerator and brake response times, reducing the risk and number of pedestrian collisions. The active compensation led a decrease in the number of nonresponses to hazardous pedestrians compared to while driving not performing compensation. However, the compensation could not reduce the number of pedestrian collisions to those of healthy-sighted drivers. Compensatory viewing behaviour contributed to improved driving performance as well as has limits to lead driving performance like healthy-sighted drivers. Developing driver assistance systems and practical compensatory strategies concerning the degrees of impairment and traffic conditions may provide opportunities to improve driving safety deteriorated hazard perception for visually impaired drivers.

Simulation of visual impairment in persons with normal vision for scientific research

“…They were broadly categorised into two groups: being used to reduce either visual acuity (Figure 3) or the visual field (Table 2). [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In some studies, both forms of impairment were simulated. Materials used in this regard included plus lenses, frosted lenses, contact lenses, blurry foils or films, neutral density filters and Velcro strips.…”

Furthering Visual Accessibility with Extended Reality (XR): A Systematic Review

“…Most gaze-contingent scotoma simulations for sighted people are gray masks, whereas many BLV with central vision loss are not aware of their scotoma [103]. Studies that have used simulation lenses or goggles would benefit from more realistic models of low vision [6,23,59,92].…”

Opportunities and Limitations of a Gaze-Contingent Display to Simulate Visual Field Loss in Driving Simulator Studies

“…Brooks et al ( 2005 ) implemented monocular tunnel vision by occluding one eye and applying a cone with a small opening in front of the other eye in a driving simulator. The monocular presentation of the VFL prohibited blurred vision that can arise from occluding different parts of the binocular field of view when masking each eye individually with altered glasses (Rousek and Hallbeck, 2011 ; Lee and Itoh, 2020 ). Another problem when simulating VFL with glasses is the option for users to look past the occluded parts by moving their eyes.…”