This study investigated the effects of visual impairment and age on automobile driving. 139 licensed drivers (young, middle-aged, and older drivers with normal vision, and older drivers with ocular disease) participated. Driving performance was assessed in the daytime on a closed-road driving circuit. Visual performance was assessed using a vision testing battery. Age and visual impairment had a significant detrimental effect on recognition tasks, time to complete driving tasks, manoeuvring ability, divided attention, and an overall driving performance index. All vision measures were significantly affected by group membership. A combination of motion sensitivity, useful field of view (UFOV), Pelli-Robson letter contrast sensitivity, and dynamic acuity could predict 50% of the variance in overall driving scores. The results indicate that older drivers with either normal vision or visual impairment had poorer driving performance compared with younger or middle-aged drivers with normal vision. Inclusion of tests such as motion sensitivity and UFOV significantly improve the predictive power of vision tests for driving performance. (Author/publisher)
Abstract