Lateral Avoidance or Lane-Keeping? Analyzing Decision-Making and Driving Risk on Sand-Covered Roads during Sand and Dust Storms

During sand and dust storms (SDS), wind-blown sand reduces visibility distance and accumulates on the road surface, decreasing tire–road friction and posing challenges to driving safety. This study aims to investigate how drivers respond to sand-covered roads during SDS and to identify the associated driving risks with different maneuvers. We conducted an experiment with 45 participants who experienced simulated SDS events under six visibility conditions. Driving maneuvers were classified into lane-keeping and lateral avoidance. A generalized linear mixed model was used to examine higher-risk and lower-risk levels using the K-means algorithm, analyze their temporal and spatial characteristics, and use Fisher’s exact test to identify factors correlated with driving risk. The results show that extremely low visibility conditions (100 and 50 m) significantly reduced the percentage of drivers choosing lateral avoidance, while drivers with longer driving experience were more likely to adopt it. Lateral avoidance involved more higher-risk cases than lane-keeping, and vehicles showed greater lateral acceleration, yaw rate, and displacement on sand-covered roads. Risk levels were strongly influenced by visibility, rising notably when visibility dropped to 100 m or below, whereas driver characteristics showed no significant correlation with risk level. Therefore, staying in your lane and avoiding sudden lane changes or aggressive maneuvers may be a safer strategy to maintain vehicle stability and ensure safety under extremely low visibility. The findings offer evidence-based driving suggestions for drivers in extreme SDS scenarios to reduce driving risk.