The older adult road user : recommendations for driver assistance

The number of older road users is getting increasingly larger in Europe. Therefore policy makers pay more attention to the abilities and limitations of this group of road users. Providing accessible and comfortable assistance and safety functions for mobility is a key challenge in the objective of extending autonomy, independency, safety and a good quality of life. In this paper an outlook is given on the action plan describing the recommendations for the European Commission. The preferred mode of transport for older road users is car driving as long as they can drive safely. In-car technology could help them maintain driving longer and safer. A cooperative Automatic Emergency braking system (C-AEB) was developed to improve bicycle collision avoidance for older drivers. Two Human Machine Interfaces were designed and evaluated with a usability test including both young and older drivers. Results showed a tendency for older drivers to prefer earlier warnings than younger drivers.