Predictions of Driver Safety in Advancing Age

University Of Iowa, Iowa City IA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

The broad goal of this research project is to identify patterns of driving performance associated with age-related[unreadable] cognitive decline. This project to date has disclosed several novel relationships between cognitive[unreadable] abilities such as attention, decision-making and memory in older drivers, and their driving performance,[unreadable] patterns of safety errors, and susceptibility to crashes.[unreadable] Guided by our findings thus far, the next phase of this project addresses several specific aims to: (1) obtain[unreadable] a comprehensive longitudinal picture of age-related changes in older driver abilities by following a cohort of[unreadable] 120 drivers over age 65, most of whom are currently enrolled in this project; (2) study a particularly high-risk[unreadable] group of 100 older drivers over age 65 who had their licenses suspended and reinstated (n = 50) or revoked (n[unreadable] = 50) in the past year; (3) determine which cognitive impairments contribute the most to driving errors and[unreadable] crashes and to develop predictive models of driving fitness.[unreadable] A comprehensive battery of neuropsychological and psychophysical measures, an instrumented vehicle,[unreadable] and a state-of-the-art driving simulator will be used to assess a set of cognitive and behavioral variables that[unreadable] may contribute to driver safety errors and crashes. Experimental driving scenarios will address mechanisms[unreadable] underlying side-impact collisions at traffic intersections, collisions with lead or merging vehicles due to[unreadable] inaccurate time-to-contact estimates, and run-off-the-road crashes on curved roads.[unreadable] As an outcome of these studies, we expect to: (1) obtain a more detailed picture of the natural history of[unreadable] driving and cognition in a stable cohort of aging individuals; (2) obtain better chronological evidence on[unreadable] predicting future driving success or failure based on cognitive abilities and demographic factors at any given[unreadable] time; (3) determine which cognitive impairments contribute the most to specific driving safety errors and[unreadable] crash types in different at-risk groups of older drivers.[unreadable] Identifying reliable and valid cognitive and driving performance measures for predicting driving safety[unreadable] errors and crashes will advance driver risk assessment, mitigate vehicle crashes and injuries caused by[unreadable] cognitively impaired drivers, and protect the mobility and social independence of elderly drivers who do not[unreadable] pose undue safety risks.