Analysis on Driving Comfort at Tunnel Entrance Based on Saccade Path Speed

In order to more accurately evaluate the driver’s visual comfort of the threshold zone of highway tunnel, the visual characteristics of drivers in the threshold zone of highway tunnel were taken as the research object. Real vehicle tests were carried out in No.1, No.2 and No.3 tunnels of Yeyatang Tunnel on Shanghe Expressway in Yunnan Province. The eye movement parameters of drivers such as fixation and saccade time, saccade location and pupil diameter were collected, and 20 drivers were investigated by questionnaire in turn. Based on the test data and questionnaire survey results, the saccade path speed index was proposed and verified to be reasonable. The test results show that the saccade path speed can effectively evaluate the driving visual comfort of the tunnel threshold zone. When the tunnel lighting conditions are the same, the new energy storage reflective luminous material can reduce the average saccade path speed of drivers by 50.62% and the maximum saccade path speed by 40.32%. Through the correlation analysis of the visual comfort index, it is further shown that the saccade path speed is inversely proportional to the driver’s driving visual comfort. With the improvement of lighting environment quality in the tunnel threshold zone, the proportion of driver saccade time increases, the saccade time becomes longer, and the saccade path speed slows down. At this time, the driver’s visual comfort is high, which is conducive to safe driving, otherwise it is not conducive to driving safety.