An Analysis of Driver Gaze Behaviour at Roundabouts

Determining driver situational awareness is one of the most difficult tasks in driver performance profiling. Perception, being the first level of driver situational awareness, is perhaps the only objectively quantifiable factor for driver inattention detection. In the context of this paper, driver perception is defined as their ability to understand their operating environment and peripheral contextual information. One of the most reliable means of determining driver perception is through eye tracking and gaze concentration. In this study, a set of carefully chosen in-vehicle gaze targets are used to determine driver gaze concentration on/off the road. The time drivers spend looking at these predefined gaze targets has been used to characterise driver visual behaviour at roundabouts during normal driving. In total, 24 drivers completed a 22 km route, including two 5-exit two-lane roundabouts in urban and suburban traffic. This study shows that on the approach to roundabouts, driver gaze direction and gaze concentration was often diverted away from the direction of travel of the vehicle and for some drivers it took a significant amount of time to return their gaze towards the direction of travel of the vehicle. The study is based on the premise that a driver not looking at key regions in a scene cannot perceive the contents of those regions with sufficient detail for safe driving. It is not possible to determine a driver’s level of understanding of a scene, unless the parameters of the scene as well as the driver’s response is determined in real time.