Citation

Stamatiadis N. Journal of ergonomics 2016; 6(1): e67584.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, OMICS Publishing Group)

DOI

10.4172/2165-7556.1000151

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The United States population is aging, and by 2030, one in five Americans will be 65 or older (TRB 2004). Clearly, the demographic of older drivers is rapidly growing, and they bring with them special challenges for traffic safety. As people age, they become more susceptible to any injuries, including injuries sustained in a crash. In fact, many of the same factors that increase the likelihood of injury in elderly drivers have also been found to lead to a higher crash-causing propensity. Older drivers may experience a decline in physical and mental facilities that lead to or cause unsafe driving behaviours. Some of these obstacles include the "deterioration of sight and hearing, the onset of muscle, joint, and skeletal disorders, and deterioration of mental and physical response times". The higher crash propensity of older drivers is often attributed to typical aging related deterioration, which affects three functions important to safe and carefree driving: sensory (visual), cognitive and psychomotor. It is estimated that 90 percent of the input that a driver receives is visual. This makes vision the primary sensory function used for driving. The deterioration of visual ability does not only reduce the capability to operate an automobile but it also causes the driver difficulty in judging distances between vehicles which in turn can lead to crash involvement. Loss of peripheral vision to observe approaching vehicles from the sides is also critical. While crash survivability undoubtedly plays a large role in the safety problem facing older drivers, just as much of an issue is crash avoidance (TRB 2004). If measures can be taken to reduce the likelihood that elderly drivers will even be involved in a crash, then some of the obstacles facing older driver mobility can be overcome.

Many mitigating factors have been introduced with the goal of decreasing crashes among older drivers: those target the vehicle, the roadway and the driver. Most of these, however, are focused primarily on the design aspects of vehicles and the roadway. The results of deeper passenger research may determine that more effort should be placed on the driver through awareness and education.

The effect of passengers on the crash-causing propensity of younger drivers is well established. A few studies have been undertaken in the pursuit of finding the effect of passengers on elderly drivers. Geyer and Ragland used adjusted odds ratios (or) to find the effects of passengers in fatal collisions between 1992 and 2002. The study found that passenger presence in general decreased the risk of the driver being at fault. More specifically, males aged 45 and older were much less likely to be at fault in fatal crashes if passengers accompanied them, and this "protective effect" increased with age. Interestingly, the study also found that passenger presence increased the likelihood that male drivers aged 50 and over were wearing their seat belts. Females also experienced this increased protective effect as well as increased seat belt usage with the presence of passengers, but not as strongly as the male drivers...

Language: en