The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between age, specific sensory, psychomotor, cognitive, and physical skills and abilities, and driving performance. To do this, the authors assessed the functional status of 104 drivers aged 40 to 92 on a number of sensory, cognitive, psychomotor, and physical measures and the rate at which they reported driving problems in a diary over a three month period. Briefly, it was found that although there are age-related changes in functioning, age was not a good predictor of the rate at which middle-aged and older drivers reported experiencing driving problems including 'near misses', accidents, and traffic tickets. It was found that how well these drivers performed on the sensory, cognitive, psychomotor, and physical tests was predictive of the rate at which they reported having a number of driving problems, irrespective of age.
Samenvatting