VISUAL ACUITY AND DRIVING RECORD

A RESEARCH PROGRAM IS OUTLINED AND RESULTS OBTAINED FROM PRELIMINARY DATA ANALYSES ARE PRESENTED. THE RESEARCH PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE WHETHER RELATIONSHIPS CAN BE FOUND BETWEEN HOW WELL A PERSON SEES AND HOW WELL HE DRIVES AS REFLECTED IN HIS DRIVING RECORD. VOLUNTARY TEST SUBJECTS WERE SELECTED FROM DRIVER LICENSE APPLICANTS IN CALIFORNIA TO MEASURE VISUAL PERFORMANCE AND OBTAIN PERSONAL AND DRIVING INFORMATION. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, THE INSURANCE RECORD FOR EACH APPLICANT WAS LOCATED AND EXAMINED. THE ACCUMULATED INFORMATION WAS CODED, PLACED ON IBM PUNCH CARDS, AND PROCESSED WITH AN IBM 7094 COMPUTER. RESULTS OF THE PRELIMINARY ANALYSES SHOW' /1/ THERE IS EVIDENCE SUGGESTING A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOOD DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY AND GOOD DRIVING RECORD, /2/ EVIDENCE INDICATES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN DRIVING RECORD BETWEEN VOLUNTEER SUBJECTS AND DRIVERS WHO REFUSED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY, THE LATTER HAVING A POORER RECORD, /3/ THE ANALYSES SHOW A DEFINITE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERFORMANCE ON THE DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY TEST AND SEX, AGE, AND STATIC ACUITY. PERFORMANCE ON THE TEST IS POORER FOR FEMALES THAN FOR MALES, BECOMES GRADUALLY POORER WITH INCREASING AGE, AND IS SIGNIFICANTLY CORRELATED WITH STATIC VISUAL ACUITY. THE MAJOR IMPORTANCE OF FINDING THAT DYNAMIC VISUAL ACUITY IS RELATED TO AGE AND SEX IS THAT IT SUGGESTS THE POSSIBLE NEED FOR DIFFERENTIAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR DIFFERENT AGE- SEX CATEGORIES IN THE EVENT A DYNAMIC TEST IS EVER INCORPORATED INTO THE LICENSING PROCEDURE.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1966/122/122-001.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Burg, Albert
  • Coppin, Ronald S
• Publication Date: 1966

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 1-6
• Monograph Title: Road user characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 122
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Computers; Driver performance; Drivers; Driving; Dynamic tests; Gender; Measurement; Personnel performance; Punched cards; Records management; Research; Static tests; Test drivers; Vision; Vision tests; Visual perception
• Uncontrolled Terms: Records
• Geographic Terms: California
• Old TRIS Terms: Driver vision; Ibm 7094; Test results
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Research; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222525
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Dec 22 1994 12:00AM