The elderly are more susceptible to stress than younger people. In particular, heart palpitations are one of the causes of heart failure, which can lead to serious accidents. To prevent heart palpitations, the authors have devised the Safe Driving Intensity (SDI) and Cardiac Reaction Time (CRT) as new methods of estimating the correlations between effects on the driver’s heart and the movement of a vehicle. In SDI measurement, recommended acceleration value of vehicle for safe driving is inferred from the suggested correlation algorithm using machine learning. A higher SDI value than other people means less pressure on the heart. CRT is an estimated value of the occurring time of heart palpitations caused by stressful driving. In particular, it is proved by SDI that elderly subjects tend to overestimate their driving abilities in personal assessment questionnaires. Furthermore, the authors validated their SDI using other general statistical methods. When comparing the results using a t-test, they obtained reliable results for the equivalent variance. Their results can be used as a basis for evaluating elderly people’s driving ability, as well as allowing for the implementation of a personalized safe driving system for the elderly. (Author/publisher)
Abstract