Physiological and psychological effects of high speed driving on young male volunteers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the physiological and psychological effects on car-drivers and their passengers. Heart rate, respiratory frequency, salivation, and subjective symptoms were measured before, 3 min and 6 min after starting at speeds ranging from 80 to 120 km/h. Vibration frequency and acceleration of the drivers and passengers' heads were simultaneously determined. The heart rate and respiratory frequency ratios of the drivers travelling at 110 km/h were 1.04, and 1.15 at 6 min after starting, whereas those of the passengers were 1.06 and 1.15, respectively. With respect to the salivation rate ratios, a decrease was noted at all the travelling speeds of both drivers and passengers. In drivers travelling at 110 km/h, a repression value of 0.72 to the baseline of one was noted, and a repression value of 0.91 was noted in the passengers. Pleasant and unpleasant indexes, at 120 km/h was 1.26 times higher than that obtained at 90 km/h. It was considered that in all the measurements the variations were caused by physiological and psychological changes mainly induced by vibration frequency and acceleration of the head.