Study on driver's preview time based on field tests

The object of this paper is to propose a new method to measure driver's preview time by field tests. 17 drivers, male and female are included, with different driving experiences were recruited to execute simulator tests along a 21-km winding road. The data of driver, vehicle, road, and traffic environment were recorded. The characteristic of driver's eye movement was investigated for each driver. Based on the discovery that drivers fixate at the tangent point on curved sections and they just look at the road ahead on straight-line sections, data of eye movement and vehicle driving state were combined to obtain driver's preview time. Then, the average preview time for each driver was calculated, and the relations between preview time and driver's age and sex were analyzed. Furthermore, the relation between preview time and road radius was analyzed, and the modelling of preview time with respect to road radius was conducted. In the end, a vehicle track following with different types of preview time was investigated to illustrate the influence of preview time on vehicle driving performance.