Countermeasures To Improve The Driving Performance Of Older Drivers

Author : Yu-ting Chen
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (111 download)

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Download or read book Self-awareness of Driving Performance in Older Adults written by Yu-ting Chen and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Having accurate self-awareness of driving ability may be one important factor to enable older drivers to adopt appropriate self-regulatory behaviors and maintain safe driving performance in their everyday living for as long as possible. Nevertheless, some methodological issues and knowledge gaps related to this topic exist. The overall objective of this thesis was to contribute evidence towards older drivers' self-awareness of their driving ability in a naturalistic driving environment. The first study compared and contrasted how the standard on-road driving evaluation (SODE) and the naturalistic driving observation (NDO) approaches influence older adults' driving performance using a reflective literature review. This study highlighted that, during the SODE, older drivers' performance may be negatively impacted by test anxiety and the unfamiliar environment, but changes in their driving capacity over time can be measured in this structured context. On the contrary, using the NDO approach, older drivers can adjust their driving behavior and environment based on their self-awareness of driving ability and self-regulatory modifications; by reducing the demands of their driving environment, their driving performance could be stable over time despite changes in their driving capacity (Manuscript #1). Based on the previous study, a validated NDO approach, the electronic Driving Observation Schedule (eDOS), was adopted to evaluate older drivers' performance in their everyday driving environment. Some improvements to its scoring system were required and 13 experts in driving rehabilitation were consulted using a two-round on-line survey. A weighted maneuver/environmental complexity score was created to represent the complexity of the driving maneuvers and environment in order to control the fact that the driving environment during each eDOS differs from each other. In addition, a weighted eDOS total score was generated to improve the scoring of older adults' driving performance by accounting for the different risk levels of each driving error type, the maneuver and environment complexity in which they occur (Chapter 4).The next study examined the accuracy of older drivers' self-awareness of driving ability and its associated demographic and clinical factors. The accuracy of self-awareness is defined by the correspondence between one's perceived and actual ability. Perceived driving ability was assessed using the Perceived Driving Ability [PDA] questionnaire, a valid and reliable tool and the weighted eDOS score was used to represent everyday driving performance. By comparing the two scores, 108 older drivers were classified into 3 groups based on the accuracy of estimation of their driving ability: under-estimation (19%); accurate (29%); over-estimation (53%). An ordinal regression model showed that older drivers who over-estimated their driving ability had better visuo-motor processing speed and fewer comorbid conditions (Manuscript #2). A longitudinal study was administered to further examine older drivers' self-awareness of their changes in driving ability over time (n=60). Results indicated that approximately one-third of the older drivers did not detect their declining driving ability over one year. Participants who had worse driving performance at the second session, regardless of their perceived changes in driving ability (Manuscript #3). The findings from this thesis indicate that many older drivers over-estimated their driving ability and did not perceive their declining driving performance over one year. Future studies are needed to examine the relationship between older drivers' accuracy of self-awareness and crash risk, as well as to create intervention programs for enhancing their accuracy of self-awareness of driving ability. " --