Comparison of older and younger driver responses to emergency driving events

This study investigated the responses of older, middle-aged, and younger drivers during performance of emergency maneuvers in an interactive driving simulator. Thirty-six drivers, equally distributed among three age groups (20-29; 35-44; 65-74) participated in the 32.2-km (20-mile) simulated drive, during which they encountered four emergency events at two levels of difficulty. Data were also collected in two baseline segments where no emergency events occurred. The emergency events were situations where other vehicles performed unexpected maneuvers: pulling out in front of the subject's car from a side street, and turning left in front of the subject's car at an intersection. Information on driver performance variables, including avoidance behavior and emergency avoidance response time, was collected. None of the age groups differed in avoidance response time, speed, deviation from the speed limit, brake pedal force, or avoidance behavior. Age differences were found in lateral placement at intersections. Older drivers drove further to the right of the lane center than younger and middle-aged drivers. It is believed that this finding is a result of a higher level of defensive behavior among older drivers. No other differences in driving behavior were found between groups. In this experiment, subjects were not performing turning maneuvers. Future research should be directed, when possible, toward investigating driver behavior when making turning maneuvers across traffic.