ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The research on traffic safety on highways underlines the need for maintaining consistency in the geometric design of highways. This paper focuses on driver workload and how the geometry affects driver’s physiological characteristics. The work presented includes development of a device namely, the Road Driver Data Acquisition System (RDDAS). It is comprised of various sensors for capturing heart rate and galvanic skin resistance, and video cameras for capturing eye blink rate. Drivers equipped with the RDDAS were allowed to drive a vehicle with Global Positioning System through study stretches of known geometry. The effect of geometry on driver workload was explored using a scatter plot study and correlation analysis. The results indicate that heart rate and rate of eye blinking are very good indicators of driver workload. The study could be extended to develop mathematical models that can quantify the relationship between highway geometry and driver workload.
