Ageing driver research.

The Ageing Driver Project commenced in August 1997 and will reach completion in August 2000. Discussion in this paper centres upon data collection from volunteers aged fifty years and over by questionnaires, behavioural experiments and on-road driving assessment. A subset of drivers who completed the questionnaire will complete the test battery. The aim of this phase of the research is to obtain the best possible tests of cognitive, sensory and motor performance to predict on road competence of older motorists. A subset of individuals who have completed the test battery will be selected to complete an on-road test drive. A standardised route will be selected to feature a variety of situations which are known to be challenging for older drivers. Situations will be chosen which either feature highly in accident statistics or have been highlighted in the ageing driver questionnaire as being particularly problematic. Assessment will be carried out by driving instructors trained in administration of the standardised test. A good standard of inter-rater reliability will be sought through adequate training and testing of the assessors. The on-road testing component of the study allows comparisons to be made with test battery performance (objective yet abstract testing) and questionnaire response (a form of self-report of driving skills). The ageing driver research programme is borne of a need to appreciate more fully the implications of the ageing process and its effects on driving skill. It is unique in the numbers of participants involved, its scope of issues investigated and the multiple methods of research to be applied. Over the course of the next few years significant and important findings should be produced. (A)