Evaluating Hazard Response Behavior of a Driver Using Physiological Signals and Car-Handling Indicators in a Simulated Driving Environment

Road traffic accidents are a major cause of casualties and costly implications to all the stakeholders. Research focusing on the driver as one of the causal agent of accidents has been studied for centuries and with the advent of modernized driver assistance technologies. This paper sought to evaluate response of a driver using active-driving performance indicators like reaction time and physiological signal response (surface electromyogram), to understand hazard response behavior. Simulation of driving scenes was done using Unity3D engine and VR Head mounted display. The driver was presented with stimulus (collision objects) of different size and distance. From the results, an event scene that the driver considered hazardous was marked with increased electromyography response distinct from non-event scenes. From the results, we noted an increase in pedal misapplication during hazard response. The proposed approach is applicable in a real time driving analysis for on-road risk level classification.