Effect of Physical Changes in Aging on Driving Performance

The growing population of older drivers has led to societal demands for the development of technologies better suited to the characteristics of older people. One effective way of addressing this situation is to examine closely the structure that causes the performance of older drivers and then use that information to develop technologies. As the first step toward understanding that structure in this research, an attempt was made to identify significant elements of the structure from a human factors standpoint in order to pursue this approach efficiently. A questionnaire survey, an observation of driving behavior and an interview survey were conducted with older drivers. The most significant perspectives on driving were extracted from the results. Tests were then conducted with a driving simulator to verify those perspectives. Based on the surveys and tests, two significant characteristics were identified concerning the influence of aging on driving behavior. One concerns the disintegration of the stimulus-perception-cognition-response system and the other concerns the transition in attention.