Elderly Drivers Do Not Lose the Ability to Detect
Hazards, More Aware Than Youngest
However, older drivers claim other road users were
responsible for putting them at risk and rarely considered themselves as
responsible for hazardous events
May 26, 2010 – There is encouraging news about the
driving abilities of senior citizens: A new study finds that advanced
age does not affect older drivers' ability to perceive hazards and that
older drivers are more sensitive to potential hazards than
young-inexperienced drivers.
The Study, "Age Skill and Hazard Perception," from
the Human Factors Safety Laboratory at Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev (BGU), suggests that driving experience improves drivers'
awareness of potential hazards and these drivers focus more on
potentially risky situations, such as approaching an intersection or
pedestrians on a curb, than young drivers.
It will be published in the July issue of
Accident Analysis & Prevention.
The study involved 21 young-inexperienced, 19
experienced and 16 older drivers (37 years of experience) who viewed six
hazard perception movies while connected to an eye tracking system and
were requested to identify hazardous situations.
Four movies embedded planned, highly hazardous
situations and the rest were used as control. The study showed that
experienced and older-experienced drivers were equally proficient at
hazard detection and detected potentially hazardous events continuously,
whereas young-inexperienced drivers stopped reporting on hazards that
followed planned, highly hazardous situations.
Moreover, while approaching T intersections, older
and experienced drivers fixated more toward the merging road on the
right, while young-inexperienced drivers fixated straight ahead, paying
less attention to potential vehicles on the merging road.
According to BGU researcher Avinoam Borowsky, "We
found that with older drivers, in general, their hazard perception
abilities remained intact. However, they relied heavily on signs and
signals (i.e. signals from other vehicles) to cope with the traffic
environment. In their verbal comments, however, older drivers tended to
claim that the other road users were responsible for putting them at
risk and rarely considered themselves as responsible for hazardous
events."
The BGU Traffic Lab measures drivers' eye movements
and has a driving simulator equipped with an advanced simulation
program, a panoramic screen and a 2008 luxury Cadillac sedan, donated by
General Motors (GM). The Human Factors Engineering group has worked with
GM for more than 10 years, studying driver interaction with vehicle
systems to improve driver safety.
The research was supported in part by the Ran Naor
Foundation and the Paul Ivanier Center for Robotics and Production at
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
About Source: Self-description by American
Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the
Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's
vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in
the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the
University's expertise locally and around the globe. With more than
19,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in
Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where
the highest academic standards are integrated with community
involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. For more
information, visit
www.aabgu.org.
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
May 26, 2010 – There is encouraging news about the
driving abilities of senior citizens: A new study finds that advanced
age does not affect older drivers' ability to perceive hazards and that
older drivers are more sensitive to potential hazards than
young-inexperienced drivers.