Age influences visual attention characteristics among accident‐free and accident‐involved drivers

Abstract

The present study investigated age-related characteristics of visual attention by employing a useful field of view (UFOV) format with a procedure consisting of a central target letter identification task and a peripheral target regularity discrimination task. This study aimed to examine the effects of aging on UFOV performance as well as the relationship between accident history and UFOV performance. Using divided and focused attention designs, the performance of participants in two age groups (younger, older) was examined in the central-task and the peripheral-task as a function of the participants' accident histories (accident-free vs. accident-involved). The results indicated that the cost of divided attention was most evident in the peripheral-task and was significantly greater for older than younger participants. In particular, older participants had more difficulty processing events that were not part of their typical scan pattern. The results suggest that UFOV performance might function as an independent indicator of accident risk for younger adults. For older adults, evaluation of the UFOV performance in combination with self-regulation and self-assessment of driving behavior might be better indicators of accident risk.j pr_437 186..200

Is the useful field of view a good predictor of at‐fault crash risk in elderly Japanese drivers?

“…21 Our data also suggest that scenarios and situations that require cognitive functions associated with UFOV are commonplace even in Japanese traffic environments. Unlike Ishimatsu et al, the present data clearly show that such previous findings are applicable to an elderly community-dwelling Japanese population.…”

“…Unlike Ishimatsu et al, the present data clearly show that such previous findings are applicable to an elderly community-dwelling Japanese population. 21 Our data also suggest that scenarios and situations that require cognitive functions associated with UFOV are commonplace even in Japanese traffic environments. The present study was able to replicate previous findings qualitatively in terms of the lower tendency of UFOV in at-fault crash-involved elderly drivers, but not quantitatively in terms of predictive accuracy of at-risk elderly drivers using UFOV.…”

“…Ishimatsu et al have reported that UFOV in at-fault crashinvolved drivers was comparable with that in at-fault crash-free drivers in an elderly Japanese population, which is inconsistent with previous studies showing an increase in crash risk among elderly drivers with low UFOV. 21 Although a major limitation of their study was the small number of participants, it could be that cognitive functions associated with UFOV are not essential for safe driving in indigenous traffic environments or driving cultures in Japan. 22,23 Ishimatsu et al proposed an alternative hypothesis, namely, that the presence or absence of self-regulation is a major factor in determining which drivers are at risk for crashes.…”

Brake Operation and Palmar Perspiration Reflect Older Adult Drivers' Ability to Predict Hazards: Driving Simulation Research

“…In 2016, drivers aged 75 and older caused 13% of all fatal accidents [1]. Such accidents are associated with agerelated cognitive decline [2,3]; thus, cognitive evaluations are now mandatory to renew the licenses of drivers over 75. According to the National Police Agency, enforcement of this new law resulted in 1,120,000 individuals undergoing cognitive function testing between March and September 2017.…”

Editorial: Special issue on cognitive aging, safety, and quality of life

“…In particular, two kinds of problems are addressed, namely, driving safety and the usability problems associated with information technology (IT) equipment. Ishimatsu's paper targets the problem of driving safety and aging, and, interestingly, suggests that different factors may be related to common traffic accidents involving younger and older adults, by highlighting the parallel factors of being accident‐free versus experienced and aging, and their relation to attention (Ishimatsu, Miura, & Shinohara, 2010).…”