Influence of multiscale visual information on driver’s perceived speed in highway tunnels

Speed illusion is the leading contributing factor to traffic accidents in highway tunnels. This study aimed to estimate the influence of visual information at different scales and frequencies on drivers’ visual perception and driving safety in highway tunnels. The speed perception of drivers was measured using the stimulus of subjectively equivalent speeds as an index. Thirty drivers were recruited to conduct a psychophysical experiment on speed perception using a driving simulator. The large-, medium- and small-scale visual information in a frequency range of 0.1–32 Hz were used in the experimental scene to generate scenes for comparison. The results show that high-frequency visual information (2–32 Hz) might lead to driver overestimation of vehicle speed in tunnels, while medium-frequency (0.4–1 Hz) and low-frequency (0.1–0.2 Hz) visual information contribute to speed underestimation. The medium-scale information had the largest speed overestimation effect, followed by large- and small-scale information (significant differences of 2–8 Hz). Medium-scale visual information below 8 Hz had the lowest degree of dispersion of speed perception. Therefore, the use of integrated high-frequency, medium-scale visual information and medium-frequency, large- and small-scale visual information is suggested to reduce the speed illusion of drivers and ensure driving safety.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Advances in Mechanical Engineering

• Publication date

  2018-12-01

• Fields of study

  Computer Science, Engineering, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1177/1687814018818961
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• The Impact of Rhythm-Based Visual Reference System in Long Highway Tunnels

  2017cited by this paper
• The speed control effect of highway tunnel sidewall markings based on color and temporal frequency

  2016cited by this paper
• Speed Control Method for Highway Tunnel Safety Based on Visual Illusion

  2015cited by this paper
• Study on Driver's Fixation Variation at Entrance and Inside Sections of Tunnel on Highway

  2015cited by this paper
• Perceptual biases are inconsistent with Bayesian encoding of speed in the human visual system.

  2015cited by this paper
• Simulation of Driving in Low-Visibility Conditions: Does Stereopsis Improve Speed Perception?

  2015cited by this paper
• Drivers’ visual comfort at highway tunnel portals: A quantitative analysis based on visual oscillation

  2014cited by this paper
• Analysis of effects of driver factors on road traffic accident indexes

  2014cited by this paper
• Research on Driving Safety Experiment of Tunnel Based on Sidewall Effect

  2013cited by this paper
• The effect of luminance on simulated driving speed.

  2012cited by this paper
• The impact of tunnel design and lighting on the performance of attentive and visually distracted drivers.

  2012cited by this paper
• Human Factors: a view from an integrative perspective

  2012cited by this paper
• Study on Driving Safety Evaluation Based on Tunnel Sidewall Effect

  2010cited by this paper
• Design of Road Traffic Safety Color System Based on Color Perception

  2009cited by this paper
• An empirical analysis of driver perceptions of the relationship between speed limits and safety

  2009cited by this paper
• Reducing Contrast Makes Speeds in a Video-Based Driving Simulator Harder to Discriminate as Well as Making Them Appear Slower

  2008cited by this paper
• The influence of perceptual speed regulation on speed perception, choice, and control: tunnel wall characteristics and influences.

  2007cited by this paper
• Perceptual distortions of speed at low luminance: evidence inconsistent with a Bayesian account of speed encoding.

  2007cited by this paper
• Car Backlight Position and Fog Density Bias Observer-Car Distance Estimates and Time-to-Collision Judgments

  2006cited by this paper
• Relationship between speed, lateral placement, and drivers' eye movement at two-lane rural highways

  2006cited by this paper
• Speed can go up as well as down at low contrast: implications for models of motion perception.

  2006cited by this paper
• Speed-tuned mechanism and speed perception in human vision

  2005cited by this paper
• Speed and safety distance control in truck driving: comparison of simulation and real-world environment.

  2001cited by this paper
• Perception of speed in an automobile: Estimation and production

  1996cited by this paper
• Perceived rate of movement depends on contrast.

  1982cited by this paper

• Traffic safety improvement method for highway tunnel entrances based on linear guiding − An engineering practice from China

  2025cites this paper
• Investigating the self-explaining performance of visual guidance facilities in extra-long spiral tunnels based on drivers' spatial perception and visual attention distribution.

  2025cites this paper
• Effects of Object Density on Speed Perception of First-Person Perspective Navigation Videos

  2025influential citation
• Comprehensive Evaluation of Visual Guiding Systems for Enhancing Traffic Safety in Freeway Tunnels: An Improved Matter-Element Method with Case Study

  2024cites this paper
• Improving driving safety in freeway tunnels: A field study of linear visual guiding facilities

  2024cites this paper
• The effects of radius and longitudinal slope of extra-long freeway spiral tunnels on driving behavior: A practical engineering design case

  2024cites this paper
• Self-explaining analysis of facility environments on 2-lane rural roads with an improved lightweight CNN considering drivers’ visual perception

  2024cites this paper
• Can retroreflective rings enhance drivers' safety perception of spatial right-of-way in freeway tunnels? A simulation exploration.

  2024cites this paper
• A speed optimization model for connected and autonomous vehicles at expressway tunnel entrance under mixed traffic environment

  2024cites this paper
• Virtual Reality Space Moderately Filled with Objects for Linear Self-locomotive Speed Perception

  2024cites this paper
• A Survey of Fire Accidents During the Process of Highway Tunnel Operation in China from 2010 to 2021: Characteristics and Countermeasures

  2023cites this paper
• Design Method of Combined Gradient Dimming Structures for Highway Tunnels

  2023cites this paper
• Analysis of the influence of warning sounds in expressway tunnels on the mental state and attention of the driver

  2023cites this paper
• The impact of Intelligent Induction Lights in tunnels

  2022cites this paper
• Study on Drivers’ Visual Load Features in Lighting Environments of Interior Zones of Extra-Long Tunnels over 10 km

  2022cites this paper
• What Affects the E-Bicycle Speed Perception in the Era of Eco-Sustainable Mobility: A Driving Simulator Study

  2021cites this paper
• A bee colony optimization (BCO) and type-2 fuzzy approach to measuring the impact of speed perception on motor vehicle crash involvement

  2021influential citation
• Experimental study on the efficacy of retroreflective rings in the curved freeways tunnels

  2021cites this paper