EFFECT OF AUDITORY DISTRACTION ON HAND AND FOOT REACTION TIME AMONG AGEING MALAYSIAN AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS

Abstract

The involvement of ageing drivers in traffic accidents were reported but little cited on the severity of auditory driving distractions. Driving distraction contributes to increases in reaction time which can lead to safety traffic risks. Thus, in this study, hand and foot reaction times were measured in response to different distractions within the identical simulated driving route. The task varies in a controlled setting where soundless distractions were present, Comfortable Loudness Level (CLL), Uncomfortable Loudness Level (ULL) auditory distractions, and phone call distraction. Participants were among 40 Malaysian driving license holders consists of 57.5% males and 42.5% females with age mean, (M=51.83, SD=14.058). Results indicated that both hand and foot reaction time were shortest for CLL and longest during phone call. Ageing male scored shortest hand reaction time of 1.15s during CLL distraction. For foot reaction time, ageing male scores shortest of 0.92s for both CLL and no distractions. Pearson’s coefficient of correlation shows r>0.5. The results indicated hand reaction time was affected by foot reaction time (r=0.665), was significantly more for foot when compared with hand, could be because of difference in nerve conduction velocity and movement time of the hand when compared with that of foot.