Gaze and steering strategies while driving around bends with shoulders

Area of Science:

• Road safety
• Human factors in driving
• Visual perception

Background:

• Rural road shoulders are intended to increase safety by providing a forgiving area.
• However, drivers may exploit shoulders, leading to "cutting corners" on curves, with unclear underlying mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how the presence of a road shoulder affects drivers' gaze strategies and lane positioning on right-hand bends.
• To understand the relationship between visual sampling and steering control in the context of road shoulders.

Main Methods:

• Eighteen drivers participated in a driving simulation study on rural roads.
• Participants navigated right-hand bends under two conditions: with and without a road shoulder.
• Eye movements and vehicle trajectory data were recorded.

Main Results:

• Drivers directed their gaze further inside the bend when a shoulder was present.
• Vehicle lane position deviated inward throughout the bend with a shoulder.
• Drivers spent more time out of the driving lane when shoulders were available.

Conclusions:

• Road shoulders significantly influence drivers' visual sampling and trajectory planning processes.
• The findings suggest drivers may alter their visual search patterns, leading to less optimal lane positioning.
• Recommendations are made to promote keeping eyes and vehicles within the driving lane when shoulders are present.