| In 2002, older drivers 70 and above had higher rates of fatal crashes than any other group except for young novice drivers and accounted for 12% of all fatal accidents. These fatal crash rates rise sharply with increasing age. A number of studies have indicated that the high crash rates are associated with decreases in useful field of view. One of the consequences of this decrease might be a corresponding decrease in older adult's ability to attend to information in the periphery that is relevant to identifying real and potential risks and at the same time to attend to information in the road ahead necessary to maintain lane position, among other things. This hypothesis was evaluated on a fixed-base driving simulator, using eye movements to index whether adults 60 years old and older were increasingly less likely to attend to information that signals potential risks. The results show that old-old (75-79) drivers recognize risk more often than middle-aged (40-50) drivers and middle-old (70-74) drivers, but just as often as young-old (60-69) drivers. An eye movement analysis explains these surprising results by indicating that old-old drivers are scanning more frequently but without real comprehension of where the risks exist. It further suggests that old-old drivers are not selecting, dividing or sustaining attention well enough to selectively scan the environment, accurately predict risks, and plan appropriate defensive driving maneuvers. |
