Abstract We offer the hypothesis that a variation in the visual environment of a driver affects their performance in estimating the speed of a car in front. The hypothesis was tested in a driving simulator with 18 drivers by recording their ability to estimate the relative speed of a car ahead when exposed to sudden variations in the visual environment. The sudden variation was produced by briefly (200 ms) masking the driving environment with a grey frame. The results of our study confirm the hypothesis, as the flashed mask significantly lowered the drivers’ accuracy in estimating the speed of a car ahead. The results also show that it is possible to cope with variations in the visual environment and to partially recover from the loss of accuracy. The findings are relevant to the layout of driving environments, such as the placement of dynamic advertisements along the side of the road or the entrance zones of tunnels, and to the training of drivers. Practitioner summary: In our driving simulator study, we showed that sudden transitions in the visual environment reduce a driver’s performance in evaluating the speed of the car ahead and are therefore a factor in accidents and traffic jams. Transitions should be limited, and drivers should be prepared for the effect of transitions. Abbreviation: ANOVA: analysis of variance

中文翻译：

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视野的突然变化会降低驾驶员对前方车辆速度的估计准确性

摘要 我们假设驾驶员视觉环境的变化会影响他们在估计前方汽车速度时的表现。该假设在具有 18 名驾驶员的驾驶模拟器中进行了测试，通过记录他们在视觉环境突然变化时估计前方汽车相对速度的能力。突然的变化是通过用灰框短暂（200 毫秒）掩盖驾驶环境而产生的。我们的研究结果证实了这一假设，因为闪光面罩显着降低了驾驶员估计前方汽车速度的准确性。结果还表明，可以应对视觉环境的变化并部分从准确性的损失中恢复。研究结果与驾驶环境的布局有关，例如在路边或隧道入口区域投放动态广告，以及对驾驶员的培训。从业者总结：在我们的驾驶模拟器研究中，我们表明视觉环境的突然转变会降低驾驶员在评估前方车辆速度时的表现，因此是事故和交通堵塞的一个因素。过渡应该受到限制，司机应该为过渡的影响做好准备。缩写：ANOVA：方差分析 我们表明，视觉环境的突然转变会降低驾驶员在评估前方汽车速度时的表现，因此是导致事故和交通拥堵的一个因素。过渡应该受到限制，司机应该为过渡的影响做好准备。缩写：ANOVA：方差分析 我们表明，视觉环境的突然转变会降低驾驶员在评估前方汽车速度时的表现，因此是导致事故和交通拥堵的一个因素。过渡应该受到限制，司机应该为过渡的影响做好准备。缩写：ANOVA：方差分析