The effect of fatigue driving on car following behavior

- Field driving study was conducted to investigate the effect of drivers' fatigue level on car following performance.
- Fatigue level has a significant impact on Time Headway.
- The increasing in Karolinska Sleepiness Scale and PERcentage of eye CLOSures leads to a lower mean and minimum THW.
- Standard deviation of THW increases with the increasing of KSS and PERCLOS.

Existing fatigued driving analysis methods mainly focus on lateral driving performance by using the measurements related to the steering wheel or lane position. There is a lack of research on longitudinal car following behavior. In this study, 40 professional drivers are invited to participate in field expressway driving experiment, lasting at least for 6 h. During the test, their performance is measured in terms of their self-reported fatigued driving level according to the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), the PERcentage of eye CLOSures (PERCLOS) and the Time Headway (THW). Then the effects of the fatigued driving level on car following behavior are evaluated. The results indicate that the fatigue level (for both KSS and PERCLOS) has significantly impact on THW parameters, including the mean, standard deviation and minimum THW. An increase in KSS and PERCLOS leads to a lower mean and minimum THW. Meanwhile, the standard deviation of THW increases with the increase of KSS and PERCLOS. In conclusion, this study found that a higher fatigue level leads to the driver keeping a smaller THW when following another vehicle and choosing shorter THW to make lane change. More deviation of car following performance was also found with the increase of fatigue level. Therefore, the findings of this study can be used to explain fatigue as one of the major reasons for rear-end collisions. Also, the research findings demonstrate the impact of fatigue on driving behavior in terms of car following performance, which can be used as a measurement for monitoring fatigued drivers.