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. 2020 Mar;62(2):229-248.
doi: 10.1177/0018720819864510. Epub 2019 Jul 30.

Aging: Older Adults' Driving Behavior Using Longitudinal and Lateral Warning Systems

Dustin J Souders  1 , Neil Charness  2 , Nelson A Roque  3 , Hellen Pham  2
Affiliations

Aging: Older Adults' Driving Behavior Using Longitudinal and Lateral Warning Systems

Dustin J Souders et al. Hum Factors. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed older drivers' driving behavior when using longitudinal and lateral vehicle warning systems together.

Background: Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) can benefit drivers of all ages. Previous research with younger to middle-aged samples suggests that safety benefits are not necessarily additive with additional ADAS. Increases in following distance associated with the use of forward collision warning (FCW) decreased when drivers also used lane departure warning (LDW), likely due to attending to the LDW more than the FCW.

Method: The current study used a driving simulator to provide 128 older drivers experience with FCW and/or LDW system(s) during a ~25-min drive to gauge their usage's effects on driving performance and subjective workload.

Results: There were no significant differences found in headway distance between older drivers who used different combinations of FCW and LDW systems, but those who used an FCW system showed significantly longer time-to-collision (TTC) when approaching the critical event than those who did not. Users of LDW systems did not show reductions in standard deviation of lane position. Analyses of subjective workload measures showed no significant differences between conditions.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that FCW could increase older drivers' TTC over the course of a drive. Contrary to previous findings in younger samples, concurrent use of FCW and LDW systems did not adversely affect older drivers' longitudinal driving performance and subjective workload.

Application: Potential applications of this research include the assessment of older drivers' use of vehicle warning systems and their effects on subjective workload.

Keywords: advanced driver assistance systems; forward collision warning; lane departure warning; older adults.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Left: Visual ADAS warnings for FCW (red bar), LDW (translucent car with warning icon) and smart speedometer (warning icon and yellow speed in mph). Right: Close-up of LDW.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Left: Visual ADAS warnings for FCW (red bar), LDW (translucent car with warning icon) and smart speedometer (warning icon and yellow speed in mph). Right: Close-up of LDW.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Map of Simulated Drive with DCRs. One grid square = 500 m.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Distribution of median time-to-collision (TTC) across DCR types. Panel A reflects median TTC. Panel B reflects log-transformed median TTC.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Panel A: Interaction effect of FCW system and critical event. Panel B: Effect of DCR type on log-transformed median time-to-collision (TTC). Log(Median TTC) was inversed for facilitating the visualization process. Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Distribution of median headway distance across DCR types.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Panel A: Main effect of critical event. Panel B: Effect of DCR type on median headway distance (meters). Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Panel A: Distribution of range of lane position, Panel B: SDLP across DCR types.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Panel A: Main effect of critical event. Panel B: Effect of DCR type on SDLP (meters). Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
NASA-TLX Ratings by Group. Error bars represent +/− 1 standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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