Understanding Older Adult Drivers Driving Challenges and Finding In-Vehicle Technology to Ease These Challenges

Driving is an essential activity in living a fulfilling lifestyle. Older adults, like the rest of the population, require a means of transportation to access and participate in important lifestyle choices; however, the declines in their sensory and motor capabilities as well as declines in perceptual and cognitive impairment limited their driving capabilities. Consequently, older adult drivers are more likely to incur fatal injury comparing to younger drivers. This high crash and fatality rate motivated this study. Through two questionnaires, the authors have identified a number of possible challenges to older adult drivers and a few in-vehicle technologies that might help ease these challenges. The first questionnaire surveyed older adult driving habits, car usage, health issues, crash or near crash experiences, and the 20 most challenging driving conditions. These 135 survey responses were useful in identifying serious driving challenges facing older adult drivers. Through the second questionnaire, the authors collected opinions about various in-vehicle technologies from 115 older adult drivers in terms of helpfulness, ease of use, annoyingness, and necessity. Similar to the first the second questionnaire also asked questions in regards to older adult driving habits, car usage, etc. From these responses, the authors were able to identify in-vehicle technologies that might prove beneficial to older adult drivers and which of these systems might be most effective in easing a specific driving challenge. Through 250 collected responses from both questionnaires, the authors identified potential challenges that older adult drivers were facing and found potential in-vehicle technologies that might help ease these driving challenges.

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ANB60 Standing Committee on Safe Mobility of Older Persons.
  • Corporate Authors:

    Transportation Research Board

    500 Fifth Street, NW
    Washington, DC  United States  20001
  • Authors:
    • Motamedi, S
    • Reis, F G
    • Wang, J H
  • Conference:
  • Date: 2017

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; References;
  • Pagination: 15p
  • Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01625599
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: 17-03613
  • Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
  • Created Date: Feb 8 2017 9:23AM