The Research of Driver Distraction by Visual Smog on Selected Road Stretch in Slovakia

Driver distraction is one of the most common cause of traffic accidents in all countries. The previous research has shown that digital billboards can take the driver attention for more than one second. Therefore, the aim of the article is to research how can visual smog influence the driver behaviour. The road stretch in Žilina has been chosen for measuring the driver distraction by visual smog next to the road. The analysis of visual smog and traffic accidents on the selected road is included in article. Eye tracking glasses has been used to scan the gaze of driver eye. Part of the experiment was EEG device, used to record brainwave data during the testing of impact of visual smog to driver. The results regarding of driver gaze at visual smog are awful considering that the average dwell time of one billboard was more than a half second. On the other side, the average dwell time of traffic sign was only 0,2 second. In generally we can state that visual smog can influence the driver behaviour which can lead to traffic accident. For all that it is necessary to reduce the increased number of visual smog next to the road which can lead to fewer traffic accidents.