Abstract: In view of the driving visual cognition demands, the relationship between the luminance of tunnel interior zone and the demand of the drivers' safe visual cognition in the case of free flow was studied. With the LED lamps at color temperature of 5700K and color rendering index of 70 as the basic lighting lamps for tunnels, by analyzing of the drivers' visual features and the demands in the interior zone of the tunnel, the threshold value of luminance for the drivers' safe visual cognition demands at different design speeds in the case of free flow was concluded through the dynamic visual cognition test under the characteristics of light source. The research result shows that the driving visual cognition demand is lower than that of the current standard.