When No Difference Makes a Difference: Older Drivers, Medical Conditions, and Freeway Ramp Negotiation

Exploratory analyses of vehicle kinematic data contained in the SHRP2 Naturalistic Driving Study database contrasted the performance of older drivers with and without medical conditions including COPD, neuropathy, and Parkinson’s disease, during the negotiation of freeway ramps and acceleration lanes in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL area. Two sets of ramps identified in the SHRP2 Roadway Information Database were defined as exhibiting ‘more favorable’ versus ‘less favorable’ geometric design characteristics, with correspondingly lower versus higher levels of driving task demand for ramp negotiation. It was hypothesized that reducing the demand for negotiating ramps would have a greater benefit for the drivers with medical conditions than for drivers without medical conditions, as reflected in measures of speed, acceleration, and brake applications. Results demonstrated significant main effects of ramp design on driver performance but the only effect of driver group was that the older drivers with medical conditions allowed a longer gap between themselves and a lead vehicle than drivers without medical conditions. No interactions between driver group and ramp design were found. One possible explanation for these findings is an absence of significant differences between driver groups on key indices of functional status. A discussion emphasizes the positive implications for older drivers maintaining their mobility. This includes older drivers with serious medical conditions, assuming such conditions are controlled.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB00 Section - Safety.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Mastromatto, Tia
  • Vardaki, Sophia
  • Staplin, Loren
  • Sifrit, Kathy
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 11p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged drivers; Automatic data collection systems; Diseases and medical conditions; Driver performance; Interchange ramps; Motor vehicle dynamics
• Geographic Terms: Saint Petersburg (Florida); Tampa (Florida)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01623644
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-00752
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 25 2017 3:08PM