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Driving a car is becoming more and more vital for many people, even as they get older, as driving helps them stay independent, socially connected and mobile. Despite this, older people face many driving problems. Some problems such as vision, motor skills, reflexes and cognitive abilities increase the risk of an accident or collision and the increased frailty of older drivers means that they are more likely to be seriously injured. or to be killed.
Dr. Shuo Li, expert in Intelligent Transportation Systems at Newcastle University, UK, explained that in the UK, older drivers tend to drive more often and over longer distances. distances. avoid stressful situations.
Li added that not driving in bad weather when visibility is bad, avoiding cities or routes, and even planning trips that prevent right turns are some of the strategies adopted by older people to minimize risks. However, this measure can be very restrictive for people.
According to Li, autonomous cars are considered a potential gambling changer for this age group. Fully automated, they will probably not require a license and could negotiate poor weather conditions and unknown cities in all situations without driver intervention.
Professor Phil Blythe of Newcastle University was the study leader and, along with the Newcastle University team, they researched the time needed for older drivers to resume the control of an automated car in different scenarios as well as the quality of their driving. in these different situations.
The researchers used the state-of-the-art DriveLAB simulator from the university and divided 76 participants into two different age groups (20 to 35 and 60 to 81 years old). The volunteers experimented with automated driving for a short time and the researchers asked them to "take back" control of a very automatic car and avoid a vehicle stopping on a freeway, a car or a car. city road and in bad weather when visibility was bad.
Li explained that under specific conditions, the quality of driving was good, but that the reaction time of older volunteers was significantly slower than that of the younger ones. Even considering the fact that the older volunteers in this study were a really active group, it took them about 8.3 seconds to negotiate the obstacle, compared to about 7 seconds for the age group on the same day. younger. At 60 mph, this means that older drivers would have needed an additional warning distance of 35 m, which equates to the length of 10 cars.
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