What do drivers do when they know that they are in a dangerous situation? Most authors predict that there are changes both in outwardly observable behaviour such as speed choice and in less apparent behaviours such as visual attention. Understanding these less observable behaviours is potentially of great importance for both the training and testing of drivers. The research reported here explores the distribution of visual attention in such circumstances by recording the eye movements of drivers while they watch videos of potentially dangerous situations. Eye movements were recorded using a laboratory based dual Purkinje image tracker. In addition to testing a sample of experienced drivers the authors have tested a group of newly qualified drivers soon after passing their driving test and on two further occasions over the course of their first year of driving. Dangerous situations were characterised by attention focusing in both groups. Attention focusing here consisted of longer fixation durations and a reduction in horizontal and vertical variance of fixation locations. There were relatively few differences between the groups and between the three phases of testing. However, novices were found to look higher up the screen (further ahead along the road) and have greater variance in vertical locations than the group of older more experienced drivers. (A)
Abstract