DRIVING PERFORMANCE OF THE ELDERLY.

WHILE DRIVING ON A FREEWAY, VISUAL SEARCH PATTERNS, VEHICLE VELOCITY AND VOLUNTARY VISUAL OCCLUSION TIMES WERE RECORDED FOR A GROUP OF AGED AND A GROUP OF YOUNG DRIVERS. THE 13 AGED DRIVERS WERE BETWEEN 60 AND 70 YEARS OF AGE; THE YOUNG DRIVERS WERE BETWEEN 21 AND 29. IN THE LABORATORY ALL SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN A VISUAL SEARCH TEST, AN EMBEDDED FIGURES TEST AND A MOTOR TEST. DIFFERENCES IN AGED AND YOUNG PERFORMANCE WERE FOUND BOTH IN FREEWAY DRIVING AND THE LABORATORY TESTS. THE RESULTS INDICATE THAT COUNTERMEASURES NEED TO BE DEVELORED IN ORDER TO AID OLDER DRIVERS.(Author/publisher).