Paper No.: 10-1363 Effect of Driving Environment on Drivers ’ Eye Movements: Re-Analyzing Previously Collected Eye-tracker Data

Eye-tracking video data that had been collected for a previous driving study was re-examined to analyze other aspects of driver eye movement. Drivers in the original study navigated a pre-set route at night while their eye movements were recorded using a head-mounted eye-tracking system. For the new analysis, eye movements from eleven of the previous study’s drivers were observed as they drove on selected segments of public roads. Four driving environments were examined: 1) a segment of highway without street lighting, 2) a segment of highway with street lighting, 3) the approach to a stop-sign controlled intersection without street lighting, and 4) the approach to signalized intersection with street lighting. Researchers evaluated the probabilities of drivers looking at specific areas of the road scene using binary logistic regression modeling. In the original study, drivers had been instructed to watch for specific signs on the right-hand side of the roadway, which likely affected their eye movement patterns. Despite this probable bias, drivers exhibited different eye movement patterns in the four driving environments examined. The probabilities of drivers looking at locations off the eye