Older Drivers' Visibility and Comfort in Night Driving: Vehicle Design Factors

Older persons are a growing proportion in the population, among drivers and those involved in traffic accidents. Changes in visual abilities of older persons are pertinent to night driving in which they need greater brightness contrast to see and minimum glare. Vehicle headlighting and related factors are reviewed which affect visibility and comfort in night driving. Older drivers, in particular, would be aided at night by: increasing the reflectivity of objects, limiting the mounting height of headlamps, appropriate reflectivities of mirrors for control of glare, automatic headlamp alignment, automatic headlamp cleaning and beam patterns that emphasize glare control.