Study on driving performance of aged drivers at the intersections compared with young drivers

Abstract

In the recent aged society, the framework for assisting safe driving should be prepared with understanding the elderly driver's driving performance and their psychological features. The purpose of this study is aimed to obtain the fundamental data of aged driver for their effective assist-system. First, using driving simulator, aged people were observed their driving behaviors in various conditions at intersections compared with young drivers. These behaviors were measured in the condition of right and left turns and crossing. As the results, in particular, significantly slower approaches were observed on every occasion, and the unstable driving behaviors were examined. Next, on the field tests of real running in proving ground, the aged drivers were apt to run rapidly in the case of approaching the crossing compared with young drivers. These driving performances should be interfered with the traffic flow and exposed to the risk of accidents. © 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.