Abstract
Longer life expectancy is leading to an increase in the average age of the European population. In 2018, 20% of the population was over 65 years old. In 2070, 30.3% of the population will be over 65. Older people prefer to walk in their neighborhoods but they rely on cars as their primary mode of transportation, which allows them to maintain their autonomy over long distances. However, age-related physical impairments can have a significant impact on driving skills, including the ability to properly visualize driving scenarios. Numerous studies have shown that older drivers have significant safety problems at standard intersections rather than roundabouts (40% of fatal crashes occur at standard intersections among drivers 70 years and older). In this work, it was decided to study a specific parameter representative of the behavior of all road users when preparing for the typical maneuvers at stop-controlled intersections (crossing, right-turn and left-turn). This parameter is the gap accepted by elderly road users at different stop-controlled intersections and under homogeneous traffic conditions. For this purpose, a research campaign was organized with 37 elderly drivers performing all possible maneuvers at 9 intersections in Italy (Eastern Sicily). The experimentally determined values of the critical gap for left-turn and crossing maneuvers were found to be compatible with those of the main internationally used reference manuals for road design. The value of the critical 50<sup>th</sup> percentile gap (G<sub>50</sub>) for the right-turn maneuver was similar to that for the left-turn maneuver. This is an indication of a very similar level of difficulty for older drivers in performing both turning maneuvers. The results of this study have highlighted the need to take into account the different operational difficulties associated with the possible maneuvers at intersections. The theoretical approaches of the Italian legislation are carried out, based on a criterion that does not distinguish according to the way in which the three maneuvers, which proves to be totally inadequate. This suggests a complete revision of the criteria for checking sight distances at stop-controlled intersections.
Highlights
The proportion of older people in society is steadily increasing worldwide.According to the European Statistical Institute, Eurostat, the average life expectancy at birth for the inhabitants of the 27 European countries, which today is 78.2 years for men and 83.7 years for women, is expected to reach 86.1 years for men and 90.3 years for women in 2070
Since the analysis of the different values of 50th percentile critical gap (G50) for both age groups considered highlighted a high degree of homogeneity in the data with respect to each type of maneuver, it was decided to group all the observed measures for each of the possible maneuvers in the studied intersections, distinguishing them according to the two age groups of the test drivers
The fact that sight distances need to be increased by more than 20% to optimize safety when turning right, and by more than 25% for left-turn maneuvers, leads the authors of this study to hope above all that: 1) in a future revision of Italian legislation on the design of road intersections, visibility criteria will be adopted, and differentiated according to the type of maneuver and the acceptance gap, and more closely related to the real psycho-physical characteristics of users approaching from the minor legs, 2) the above visibility criteria are based on G50 values, suitable to take into account the expectations of elderly drivers
Summary
The proportion of older people (typically defined as ≥65 years [1, 2]) in society is steadily increasing worldwide. As an essential driving behavior at Researchers suggest that frailty, illness, and medication stop-controlled intersections, the gap assumption decision use contribute significantly to the crash differences has been used as an important measure to analyze traffic between older and younger drivers and the increased risk of conflicts and crash rates at road intersections [38, 39]. It was decided to study the gap accepted by elderly users at different stop-controlled intersections and in homogeneous traffic conditions For this purpose, a research campaign was organized involving 37 elderly drivers performing all possible maneuvers at 9 intersections in Italy ( on some road networks in Eastern Sicily). The need to review the check criteria for sight distances at stop-controlled intersections will be adequately justified to ensure equal levels of safety for users of all ages
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