In the next decades a rising number of traffic participants will be elderly people. Advanced driver assistance- and in-vehicle information systems (ADAS/IVIS) may provide an innovative approach to increase traffic safety of elderly drivers by compensating age-correlated performance restrictions. The aim of the present project is to identify personal preconditions of elderly drivers that influence purchase and utilization of ADAS/IVIS. In the literature review, it is presented how ADAS/ IVIS might increase traffic safety of elderly drivers. Based on acceptance studies on ADAS/IVIS, factors are identified, which might influence purchase and usage of such systems by elderly drivers. In the empirical part of the project, information about the personal preconditions of elderly people influencing purchase and utilization of ADAS/IVIS is collected by two different methodological approaches: First personal interviews with car dealers, who are in close contact with elderly customers and second focus group discussions with the target group. Interviews with car dealers reveal that the customer consultant is very important to provide information about ADAS/IVIS for elderly drivers. The topic of ADAS/IVIS is rarely addressed by the customers themselves. So, the customer consultant has to point specifically to this issue. Younger drivers purchase ADAS/IVIS rather for comfort and prestige reasons. In contrast to this, for elderly drivers, safety aspects of ADAS/IVIS are the most important arguments. Customer consultants emphasize the importance of test drives, since they can decrease doubts and fears of sceptical customers regarding ADAS/IVIS. Doubts concerning the technical reliability of ADAS/IVIS as well as the relatively high costs are identified as barriers to use and purchase ADAS/IVIS. In the focus group discussions, elderly drivers were interviewed. Until our workshop, most of the focus group participants have not dealt much with the issue of ADAS/IVIS. Therefore only little knowledge about ADAS/IVIS existed. However, by giving only some information about the functioning of single ADAS/IVIS, a lot of the participants developed a positive attitude regarding ADAS/IVIS. Based on the information of the literature review, the customer consultant interviews and the focus group discussions, a working model for the personal preconditions of elderly drivers, which influence purchase and utilization of ADAS/IVIS, is developed. This model is meant to support OEMs and relevant organizations by deriving measures for a better dissemination of ADAS/IVIS, especially within the group of elderly drivers. In order to quantify the influence of the different factors in the working model, a questionnaire was developed which was answered in an online survey by 585 persons. The questionnaire was analyzed by logistic regressions. Results show that it is not adequate to develop one single model for all kinds of ADAS/IVIS to predict usage and purchase. Instead of this, for each ADAS/ IVIS an own model has to be taken into account. Each of the investigated ADAS/IVIS shows certain features, which differentiate it from the other ADAS/ IVIS and, of course, also affect the decision to use a system or not. The criteria to evaluate the benefit of an emergency brake system are reasonably different from the criteria applied to a continuously acting Active Cruise Control system. Some preconditions for a further dissemination of ADAS/IVIS in the near future are already given. Those preconditions seem to be independent from gender and age of potential ADAS/IVIS users. Nonetheless, the further dissemination of ADAS/ IVIS can be facilitated by a targeted information policy regarding the potential of ADAS/IVIS to compensate physical/cognitive restrictions. By analyzing the mobility and the physical/cognitive restrictions of potential new car purchasers, ADAS/IVIS that specifically meet the demands of the target group could be offered. Many interview partners in the present project express doubts regarding the responsible dealing with data safety issues as well as concerns with respect to high follow-up costs in the case of repairing the ADAS/IVIS. Therefore, a transparent data policy and certainty regarding potential repair costs might be further useful for a broader dissemination of ADAS/IVIS. (Author/publisher)
Abstract