Enhancing the Effectiveness of Safety Warning Systems for Older Drivers: Project Report

Older drivers seem to have the greatest difficulty negotiating intersections, as indicated by overrepresentation in intersection crashes. Older drivers are also the fastest growing segment of the general population and the fastest growing sector of the driving population. To address this area of concern, this research is an effort aimed to support technology development that can mitigate older driver intersection crashes. This project explored a vehicle-based technology countermeasure for crashes associated with failure-to-obey (running a stop sign or stop light) violations developed under the Intelligent Transportation Systems’ CICAS-V project. This system warned drivers when it determined it was likely the driver would violate a red light or stop sign. An evaluation was performed in the NADS-1 high-fidelity driving simulator. The experimental design used 36 participants from three age-related groups; 'middle-normal'(25-55), 'older normal'(>65) and 'older at-risk'(>65) drivers. The participants were presented two levels of vehicle system presence (present and not present). There was an overall benefit associated with the presence of the warning system as there were significantly fewer did-not-stop outcomes when the system was present than when it was not. The benefit associated with the system was also seen in the stopping position data. Participants who experienced the system warning stopped instead of driving through the intersection, resulting in more stops past the stop bar, but before the collision zone. From the survey data, there was also a general perception that the system improved driving safety and that the system aided drivers in driving more carefully. Older-at-risk drivers had the greatest decrease in did-not-stop outcomes when the system was present, although this trend did not reach statistical significance. This study shows promise for improving the safety of all drivers, including at-risk-older drivers, with intersection warning systems. However, this study did not thoroughly explore possible unintended consequences of intersection warning systems such as overreliance on or inappropriate reactions to warnings under certain situations.

[1]  Kaarin J Anstey,et al.  A Multidomain Approach for Predicting Older Driver Safety Under In‐Traffic Road Conditions , 2008, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[2]  Matthew Rizzo,et al.  Impaired visual search in drivers with Parkinson's disease , 2006, Annals of neurology.

[3]  J. M. Guralnik,et al.  Is the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status a valid alternative in persons who cannot be evaluated by the Mini Mental State Examination? , 1998, Aging.

[4]  J. Wood,et al.  Bilateral cataract surgery and driving performance , 2006, British Journal of Ophthalmology.

[5]  J. Caird,et al.  The effect of yellow light onset time on older and younger drivers' perception response time (PRT) and intersection behavior , 2007 .

[6]  Thomas Songer,et al.  Risk factors for motor vehicle crashes in older women. , 2002, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[7]  M. Rizzo,et al.  Simulated Car Crashes and Crash Predictors in Drivers With Alzheimer Disease , 1997 .

[8]  Max Donath,et al.  Intersection Decision Support Surveillance System: Design, Performance and Initial Driver Behavior Quantization , 2007 .

[9]  Malcolm Man-Son-Hing,et al.  Older driver retraining: a systematic review of evidence of effectiveness. , 2007, Journal of safety research.

[10]  D. Roth,et al.  Cumulative Meta-analysis of the Relationship Between Useful Field of View and Driving Performance in Older Adults: Current and Future Implications , 2005, Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry.

[11]  M. Tinetti,et al.  Predictors of Automobile Crashes and Moving Violations among Elderly Drivers , 1994, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[12]  E. Wagner,et al.  Medical Conditions and Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries in Older Adults , 1994, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[13]  H Kalimo,et al.  Alzheimer's disease and apolipoprotein E epsilon 4 allele in older drivers who died in automobile accidents. , 1997, Lancet.

[14]  P Sachdev,et al.  Mild neuritic changes are increased in the brains of fatally injured older motor vehicle drivers. , 2007, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[15]  Karen Bandeen-Roche,et al.  A prospective, population-based study of the role of visual impairment in motor vehicle crashes among older drivers: the SEE study. , 2007, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[16]  A R Dobbs,et al.  A comparative approach to identify unsafe older drivers. , 1998, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[17]  Suzanne E. Lee,et al.  VEHICLE-BASED COUNTERMEASURES FOR SIGNAL AND STOP SIGN VIOLATIONS: TASK 1. INTERSECTION CONTROL VIOLATION CRASH ANALYSES; TASK 2. TOP-LEVEL SYSTEM AND HUMAN FACTORS REQUIREMENTS , 2004 .

[18]  M. Babizhayev,et al.  Rejuvenation of visual functions in older adult drivers and drivers with cataract during a short-term administration of N-acetylcarnosine lubricant eye drops. , 2004, Rejuvenation research.

[19]  Samy Suissa,et al.  Warfarin use and the risk of motor vehicle crash in older drivers. , 2006, British journal of clinical pharmacology.

[20]  C.-Y. Chan,et al.  Evaluation of cooperative roadside and vehicle-based data collection for assessing intersection conflicts , 2005, IEEE Proceedings. Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, 2005..

[21]  Beth T. Stalvey,et al.  Visual risk factors for crash involvement in older drivers with cataract. , 2001, Archives of ophthalmology.

[22]  Gayla M. Cissell,et al.  Can High‐Risk Older Drivers Be Identified Through Performance‐Based Measures in a Department of Motor Vehicles Setting? , 2006, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[23]  Linda Wetzel,et al.  Development and assessment of a neuropsychological battery to aid in predicting driving performance. , 2002, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[24]  H Summala,et al.  Fatal Accidents among Car and Truck Drivers: Effects of Fatigue, Age, and Alcohol Consumption , 1994, Human factors.

[25]  M. Rizzo,et al.  Simulated Car Crashes at Intersections in Drivers With Alzheimer Disease , 2001, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders.

[26]  R. L. Kennedy,et al.  Accidents in patients with insulin-treated diabetes: increased risk of low-impact falls but not motor vehicle crashes--a prospective register-based study. , 2002, The Journal of trauma.

[27]  Wassim G. Najm,et al.  ANALYSIS OF FATAL CRASHES DUE TO SIGNAL AND STOP SIGN VIOLATIONS , 2004 .

[28]  Nicholas J. Ward,et al.  A Simulator-Based Evaluation of Smart Infrastructure Concepts for Intersection Decision Support for Rural Thru-STOP Intersections , 2007 .

[29]  Malcolm Man-Son-Hing,et al.  Acceptability and concurrent validity of measures to predict older driver involvement in motor vehicle crashes: an Emergency Department pilot case-control study. , 2007, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[30]  R De Raedt,et al.  Short Cognitive/Neuropsychological Test Battery for First-Tier Fitness-To-Drive Assessment of Older Adults , 2001, The Clinical neuropsychologist.

[31]  R B Isler,et al.  Age related effects of restricted head movements on the useful field of view of drivers. , 1997, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[32]  L Staplin,et al.  Retrospective evaluation of alternative vision screening criteria for older and younger drivers. , 1993, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[33]  Alex Chaparro,et al.  Visual Difficulties Reported by Low-Vision and Nonimpaired Older Adult Drivers , 2005, Hum. Factors.

[34]  Jeff K. Caird,et al.  Older Driver Failures of Attention at Intersections: Using Change Blindness Methods to Assess Turn Decision Accuracy , 2005, Hum. Factors.

[35]  M. Tinetti,et al.  Development of a Test Battery to Identify Older Drivers at Risk for Self‐Reported Adverse Driving Events , 1998, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[36]  Pierre Joly,et al.  Previous convictions or accidents and the risk of subsequent accidents of older drivers. , 2002, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[37]  Keli A Braitman,et al.  Factors Leading to Older Drivers' Intersection Crashes , 2007, Traffic injury prevention.

[38]  A J McKnight,et al.  INTERSECTION NEGOTIATION PROBLEMS OF OLDER DRIVERS, VOLUME II: BACKGROUND SYNTHESIS ON AGE AND INTERSECTION DRIVING DIFFICULTIES , 1998 .

[39]  Mark Woodward,et al.  Passenger carriage and car crash injury: a comparison between younger and older drivers. , 2003, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[40]  P. Atchley,et al.  Age-related differences in collision detection during deceleration. , 2000, Psychology and aging.

[41]  S. Anderson,et al.  Driver landmark and traffic sign identification in early Alzheimer’s disease , 2005, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

[42]  Bengt Winblad,et al.  Alzheimer's disease and apolipoprotein E ε4 allele in older drivers who died in automobile accidents , 1997, The Lancet.

[43]  Michael Maile,et al.  Cooperative Intersection Collision Avoidance System Limited to Stop Sign and Traffic Signal Violations , 2008 .

[44]  L. Hakamies‐Blomqvist,et al.  Compensation in older drivers as reflected in their fatal accidents. , 1994, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[45]  Patricia R. Delucia,et al.  Motion Extrapolation of Car-Following Scenes in Younger and Older Drivers , 2006, Hum. Factors.

[46]  J. Duchek,et al.  Environmental Cueing May Affect Performance on a Road Test for Drivers with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type , 1997, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders.

[47]  D. Grabowski,et al.  The effect of state regulations on motor vehicle fatalities for younger and older drivers: a review and analysis. , 2001, The Milbank quarterly.

[48]  R. Hauser,et al.  Driving safety in Parkinson’s disease , 2002, Neurology.

[49]  Michel Bëdard,et al.  Factors Associated with Motor Vehicle Crashes in Cognitively Impaired Older Adults , 1998, Alzheimer disease and associated disorders.

[50]  C Worringham,et al.  Quantitative assessment of driving performance in Parkinson’s disease , 2005, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

[51]  William C Mann,et al.  Predictability of clinical assessments for driving performance. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[52]  Dale Andrea,et al.  THE SENSITIVITY AND BIAS OF OLDER DRIVER JUDGEMENTS IN AN ARRIVAL-TIME TASK , 2000 .

[53]  C Lundberg,et al.  Can a Physician Recognize an Older Driver with Increased Crash Risk Potential? , 1996, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[54]  R. Sims,et al.  Relations among chronic medical conditions, medications, and automobile crashes in the elderly: a population-based case-control study. , 2000, American journal of epidemiology.

[55]  R. Marottoli,et al.  Visual attention and driving behaviors among community-living older persons. , 2003, The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences.

[56]  Sherrilene Classen,et al.  The Impact of Roadway Intersection Design on Driving Performance of Young and Senior Adults: Preliminary Results , 2007, Traffic injury prevention.

[57]  K. Shulman.  Clock‐drawing: is it the ideal cognitive screening test? , 2000, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[58]  R L Knoblauch,et al.  OLDER ROAD USER RESEARCH PLAN , 2001 .

[59]  G. Ivanic,et al.  Driving in Parkinson’s disease—a health hazard? , 2003, Journal of Neurology.

[60]  Barbara Freund,et al.  Drawing clocks and driving cars , 2005, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[61]  A. Williams,et al.  Older driver involvements in police reported crashes and fatal crashes: trends and projections , 2002, Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention.

[62]  N. Pachana,et al.  Alzheimer and vascular dementias and driving. A prospective road and laboratory study. , 1995, JAMA.

[63]  K. Ball,et al.  Visual attention problems as a predictor of vehicle crashes in older drivers. , 1993, Investigative ophthalmology & visual science.

[64]  M K Janke,et al.  Assessing medically impaired older drivers in a licensing agency setting. , 1998, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[65]  John D. Lee,et al.  Traffic-Entry Behavior and Crash Risk for Older Drivers with Impairment of Selective Attention , 2006, Perceptual and motor skills.

[66]  G McGwin,et al.  Visual risk factors for driving difficulty among older drivers. , 2000, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[67]  Matthew Rizzo,et al.  Impaired navigation in drivers with Parkinson's disease. , 2007, Brain : a journal of neurology.