The Effect of Visual Clutter on Driver Eye Glance Behavior

Abstract

Drivers’ eye glance behavior was examined as they drove on a variety of roadways that varied in visual clutter and the presence or absence of advertising billboards. Eye glance behavior appeared to be more heavily influenced by the nature of the driving task than by the stimulus attributes along the roadside. The mean proportion of glances to the road ahead ranged between 0.80 and 0.87 across conditions. The lowest mean proportion of glances to the road ahead was seen in conditions of high visual clutter, which contained off-premise billboards. Under high levels of clutter, drivers directed more glances to the left and right side of the road than under conditions of low clutter. The longest mean glance durations away from the forward roadway were to the right side of the road (0.105 s) and not to billboards. Mean glances to billboards were 0.078 s and 0.087 s under low and high clutter environments, respectively. The results showed that level of visual clutter present in the highway environment affects how drivers glance at scenes. However, this did not appear to be at the expense of focusing on the forward roadway.