Rear-view mirror use, driver alertness and road type: An empirical study using EEG measures

The use of rear-view mirrors has been suggested as a good behavioural indicator of driver alertness in traffic situations (Brookhuis, K. A., De Vries, G., & De Waard, D. (1991). The effects of mobile telephoning on driving performance. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 23(4), 309–316). In general terms, drivers look in the mirrors to find information and adapt their driving to traffic variations. This paper aims to analyse the links between time variations in alertness—measured from EEG activity data—and the frequency of rear-view mirror use in a group of drivers, both on motorways and conventional roads. The results point to a direct relationship between alertness level and mirror use in motorway driving, but an inverse association while driving on conventional roads. The comparison between the frequency of mirror-gazing and EEG activity between motorway and conventional roads shows a globally higher mirror use for motorway driving. These results are discussed on the basis of differences in the visual behaviour presumably required by each road type and their possible implications on driver’s alertness level.