DETECTING THE GAZING ATTENTION POINTS OF YOUNG AND ELDERLY CYCLISTS

This study analyzed the perceived attention represented by "gazing" points of cyclists to expose a latent accidental factor hidden in cyclist behaviour. Eleven elderly people and 23 young people equipped with an eye camera participated in the study. From the camera images, the objects viewed by the cyclists were analyzed. A main road and a community road were used in the experiment. The objects viewed by the cyclists were categorized into nine items that would be indirectly related to the cause of bicycle traffic accidents: gates and porches, parking lots, signals, alleys, other bicycles on the road, pedestrians, signs and painted symbols on the road, schoolyards and houses, and other items. The results of the study indicated that many elderly cyclists always confirmed their safety at alley intersections along both main and community roads, whereas many young people were not so dutiful. The results for unsafe gazing behavior such as looking at a schoolyard or house while cycling were the same for the two groups in that most individuals did not look away from the road while cycling along the main and community roads. Dissimilar results, especially those for alley intersections, resulted from young people not paying due attention to objects, suggesting that such gazing behaviour could be strongly related to traffic accidents involving a bicycle.