2005 Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages 19-27
This study examined differences in visual searching between two groups of drivers, those with repeated traffic accidents and those without. We presented each of ten participants from each group a set of 30 visual scenes shot from the passenger seat of a car; each scene was presented for 15 seconds. We recorded fixation duration, saccadic eye movement time, and fixation targets that could be classified into 63 categories, using an eye camera. Principal component analysis of each total fixation duration abstracted three major components: fixation targets that do not contribute to safe driving, fixation targets that are important for determining the vehicle's traveling position or speed, and fixation targets of things that move (pedestrians, bicycles or other vehicles). The participants without traffic accidents scored fewer fixations on the first principal component than the participants with repeated traffic accidents. These results suggest that the participants without traffic accidents watched targets selectively, but participants with repeated traffic accidents did not.
