Number Of Elderly Drivers Research Articles

Hearing of warning sounds under the settings of railway running noise considering age-related hearing loss

Railroad drivers may become drowsy because of their irregular work schedules, such as late nights and early mornings. Therefore, in our research, we developed a system that detects driver drowsiness using images based on facial expressions and issues a warning sound to assist drivers during driving. However, it is necessary to function warning sounds even in loud running noise areas or various running noise qualities to make the system more practical. Moreover, it is necessary to consider the effect of a driver’s age-related hearing loss on the setting of the warning sound volume in noisy environments, even for those who meet the hearing criteria as drivers. This is because the number of elderly drivers in their 60 s will increase in the future. Therefore, we investigated the appropriate volume of the warning sound under various running noise types and levels. Then, we compared it between groups of people in their early 20 s and 60 s regarding their hearing ability and the way they hear warning sounds under running noise. The results provide new insight into the relation between hearing ability and the ability to hear warning sounds under driving noise.

Analysis on the driving behavior of old drivers by driving recorder GPS trajectory data

With the aging of the population, the number of elderly drivers is increasing. Elderly drivers tend to overestimate their driving abilities, despite their maneuvering skills and cognitive function worsening with aging. Therefore, understanding the driving behavior of older drivers is becoming increasingly important for assisting their safe driving. This research analyzes the characteristics of old drivers' driving behaviors by utilizing the GPS trajectory data collected by the driving recorders installed in their vehicles. The analysis conducted was from the perspectives of route choice, driving time, driving distance, risky driving event, and driving speed. Furthermore, a linear regression model was used to explore the influence of drivers’ socioeconomic attributes and travel behaviors on driving speed. The results show that older drivers prefer short-distance travel in the daytime and tend to have more risky driving behaviors with aging.

Effect of Age on Severity of Injuries in Traffic Accidents Involving Elderly Drivers

Background: The number of elderly drivers involves in traffic accidents is increasing with the aging of the population. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the driver's age and injury severity in traffic accidents caused by elderly drivers. Methods: Data from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) from 2011-2016 was used to analyze traffic accidents by drivers aged 60 and older. Patients were classified into non-severe and severe injury group. The driver's age was subdivided by 5-year interval to compare the difference in age groups. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the factors related to the severe injury. Results: Among a total of 262,361 subjects, 6,427 patients were included, of which 890 (13.9%) were severely injured. There were more male in all age groups. The accidents occurred most in the daytime and general roads. In multivariate analysis, drivers aged 75-79 had 1.39 odds ratio (OR) of severe injury compared to drivers aged 60-64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-1.84). Male (OR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.40-2.09), alcohol intake (OR: 2.02, 95% CI: 1.39-2.94), and non-use of seatbelt (OR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.71-2.48) were associated with severe injury, as well as the counterpart and road class. Conclusion: Among elderly drivers, there were significant differences in characteristics of traffic accidents according to age groups. The risk of severe injury increased in drivers aged over 75 years comparing to relatively young elderly drivers. These results provide the practical adjustment in determining the age standard when establishing traffic safety policies.

Verification and injury risk study of FE model of upper limbs in elderly under dynamic loading

The ageing population becomes an increasingly serious issue in the world. The number of elderly drivers has also been rising year by year. In order to study the biomechanical response and injury risk of elderly drivers in vehicle collisions. Firstly, the finite element (FE) method is used to establish the upper limb FE model of elderly people with biological fidelity. Based on the experimental data onto cadaver upper limbs in literature, the simulation reliability of the upper limb FE model was verified under dynamic loading. The results showed that the model can accurately reproduce the response and injury to the upper limb of the human body, and obtains the tolerance limits of each part of the FE model of the aged upper limbs were consistent with the cadaver experiment. Moreover, the study used the verified FE model of upper limbs to precede the airbag initiation experiments in order to study the risk of forearm injury at different positions of the airbag. The risk of forearm injury was found related to the crash velocity from distance. Lastly, when an included angle was added between the forearm and the airbag module and the forearm was away from the airbag center. It can reduce the distal velocity of the forearm and thus reduce the risk of upper limb injury.

Effect of VR-based Driving Simulator Training on the Speed of Vision-motorand Physical Responses of the Elderly

Background/Objectives: Increase in the number of elderly drivers is causing social problems such as increase in the risk of traffic accident due to decline in their driving performance ability by senility. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of application of VR-based driving simulator on the speed of vision-motor-physical responses for safe driving of the elderly. Methods/Statistical Analysis: Subjects of the study were 11 elderly over the age of 65 who can respond to neuropsychological test tools. The tools used to test the speed of cognitive ability and vision-motorphysical responses were 1) Motor-free visual perception test (MVPT) 2) Reaction Time Test 3) Trail-Making Test A and 4) Trail-Making Test B. Simulated driving training was conducted by using VR-based driving simulator and, before and after the training, evaluations were performed on the speed of vision-motor-physical responses. Findings: As the result of performing the evaluation on the speed of vision-motor-physical responses on 11 elderly who received VR-based driving simulator training by using Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Reaction-Time Test and Trail-Marking Test A and B, there were statistically significant differences (P.05). Application/Improvements: Simulated driving training using VR-based driving simulator enhanced the speed of vision-motor-physical responses required for driving performance. Therefore, VR-based driving simulator training can be effectively used as an intervention tool for safe driving of the elderly.

Fitness to drive under traffic ophthalmological aspects in elderly drivers

The Federal Roads Office (FEDRO), Switzerlands federal authority carries responsibility for the action program “Via Sicura” in order to reduce drastically the number of road traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Swiss roads. The revision of the VZV (Verkehrszulassungsverordnung) included in this program will come in to force on 1.July 2016. On that account the legal medical requirements for driver will be renewed. In particular, the requirements for vision (visual acuity, visual field) will be adjusted to international standards. Due to demographic changes the number of elderly drivers with old age (85 – 90+) with eye associated diseases increases. Therefore, questions concerning traffic ophthalmological problems have to be increasingly considered within traffic medical assessments. The driver's vision in traffic's safety must enable him to perceive relevant information, process information quickly and perform an adequate reaction in time, even if visibility is limited (e. g. due to rain, night, darkness) or in the presence of physical or psychical constraints.

3208 高齢運転者のブレーキ時における情報要因の解析(高齢者・操舵特性の視点から,OS4 ヒューマンインタフェース,一般講演)

In recent years, the number of elderly drivers' accidents are rapidly increasing. The increase will continue in the aging society of the future. Therefore it is necessary to reveal elderly drivers' characteristics of braking to prevent their accidents. This paper examines elderly drivers' characteristics of braking, especially drivers' braking time, in comparison of the young drivers based on the data of indoor experiments. We analyzed various factors such as leading vehicle velocity, leading vehicle deceleration, following velocity, following vehicle acceleration, relative velocity, relative acceleration, distance between cars, time headway, TTC (Time-to-Collision) by multiple regression analysis and neural network. The big difference in braking characteristics was not found between elderly drivers and young drivers.