ABSTRACT
Driving in tunnel sections is often accompanied by drastic changes in vehicle and environmental parameters, which can easily cause a reduction in driving suitability and induce traffic accidents. Poor driving suitability often affects drivers' operating behavior and thus poses driving risks. In this paper, we use test data from real driving tasks and driving environment data to quantify driving suitability indicators and propose a quantification method to study the mechanism of dynamic driving suitability in highway tunnel sections under the combined influence of driving behavior and the roadside environment. The experimental data obtained by natural driving includes 57 sets of data from 16 subjects driving through 30 tunnels on a highway in Guangdong Province. Driver heart rate variation rates and skin conductance responses are used to measure driving suitability. Vehicle operation data such as vehicle speed and acceleration are used to describe driving behavior, and illumination data is used to express the roadside environmental changes. The one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis methods are then employed to explore the potential association between highway tunnel segments and driving suitability. The study finds that drivers' psychological indicators vary in different lengths of tunnels, and the magnitude of changes in such indicators is in the order of long, medium, and short tunnels. There are significant differences in the driving suitability of drivers between the I–IV zones among tunnels of different lengths, with little difference between the outer exit zones; the length of the mid-section of the tunnel is the main factor in determining driving suitability and drivers' driving suitability, which is stabilized as the driver adapts to the changing environment inside the tunnel. The results of the study provide a theoretical basis for improving the safety design of tunnel sections.
