Do older drivers at-risk for crashes modify their driving over time?

Abstract

Five-year driving habit trajectories among older adults (n = 645) at-risk for crashes were examined. Performance measures included Useful Field of View (UFOV). Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Rapid Walk, and Foot Tap. Self-report measures included demographics and the Driving Habits Questionnaire. Longitudinal random-effects models revealed that drivers at-risk for subsequent crashes, based upon UFOV, regulated their driving more than the lower-risk participants. Restricted driving was present at baseline for the at-risk group and was observed in longitudinal trajectories that controlled for baseline differences. Results indicate that persons at-risk for subsequent crashes increasingly limit their driving over time. Despite this self-regulation, a larger sample of such older drivers was twice as likely to incur subsequent at-fault crashes. Results suggest that self-regulation among older drivers at-risk for crashes is an insufficient compensatory approach to eliminating increased crash risk. UFOV is a registered trademark of Visual Awareness, Inc.

Figure 1.

Model-predicted, covariate-adjusted linear trajectories for driving frequency over 5 years, range 0–7.

Figure 2.

Model-predicted, covariate-adjusted linear trajectories for driving space over 5 years, range 0 (not driving outside of an individual's neighborhood in the past year) to 5 (driving outside of the mid-Atlantic region in the past year).

Figure 3.

Model-predicted, covariate-adjusted linear trajectories for driving avoidance over 5 years, range 10–50.