Analysis of Informational Impact of Transport System Elements on the Driver’s Perception of the Road Environment

This paper is devoted to a comprehensive study of the interaction mechanisms between the driver and the information environment of road traffic. The study objective is to provide a theoretical justification and experimental confirmation of the impact of redundant information flows generated by transport system elements on the quality of driver’s perception of the traffic situation. The task the paper is devoted to is to identify the key sources of “visual noise” and to rank road infrastructure objects according to the degree of their destructive impact on attention concentration. The research methods include a systematic analysis of statistical data on accident rates in Belgorod Region, field experiments using time lapse methods to measure drivers’ reactions, and modeling of cognitive load under conditions of varying intensity of information exposure. The novelty of the work is in the author’s classification of transport system elements according to the level of their informativeness and in identifying the critical thresholds of visual field saturation that lead to perceptual errors. The research results show a direct correlation between the density of off road objects (primarily outdoor advertising) and an increase in the time required to recognize priority road signs. Conclusions: the requirements for the spatial arrangement of advertising and information structures are scientifically substantiated; it is noted that the proposed recommendations for optimizing the visual appearance of transport arteries are aimed at reducing the functional fatigue of drivers and increasing the overall technospheric safety of the urban environment.