Sixteen younger and sixteen elderly drivers completed test rides in an advanced driving simulator. They drove through rural and urban areas. The rural test ride was divided into segments, at each segment a road element (e.g., delineation) was added or removed. During the rides performance (lateral position, speed) and heart rate were registered continuously, before each transition to a new section a rating of effort and on visibility of the previous road path was asked. Goal of this part of the experiment was to determine whether at a certain amount of visual information there is a abrupt change in driving behaviour. The results showed that the main threshold is between no delineation and a painted centre-line. No difference in threshold was found between the two age groups, however, elderly drivers did drive slower and seem to regulate the information input in this way. Purpose of the ride through the built-up area was to assess driving behaviour in the condition when there is no traffic coming from the right, trafic which would have right of way. Driving behaviour was also assessed when all of a sudden there was traffic from the right, and whether driving behaviour would change after this experiment. Results showed that only after this experience driving behaviour changed in terms of reducing speed at the following junctions by releasing the accelerator. In a final condition subjects drove on a centre-lined road towards an ambiguous junction where the road forked into one road without delineation but with lampposts to the left and right, and into another road delineated by a centre-line. In particular elderly drivers chose the ambiguous road ( with lampposts). (A)
Abstract