Driving simulation and older driver assessment

Fair and valid assessment of driving competence in older drivers is becoming increasingly important, because the European population is ageing both in absolute and relative terms. The EU-funded initiative AGILE is developing a new multi-tier assessment system to evaluate specific driving abilities of ageing drivers. Driving simulation might contribute significantly to this system as it enables objective driver performance measurement with high face validity, including driving in risky scenarios to assess the clients' performance limits. Older drivers might be, however, more susceptible to simulation sickness and side-effects of unfamiliar technological environments. The potential of utilising driving simulation in the given context was explored in a usability study on a static driving simulator featuring a car-like mock-up with an angle of view of 120 degrees. The study included 12 elderly and 13 younger healthy participants. lt was found that elderly individuals experience major kinetosis effects which are significantly higher than for younger individuals. Moreover, strong handling problems were observed for the elderly individuals, whereas the younger subjects showed less difficulties. From these findings, recommendations for the design of simulators and driving scenarios for the assessment of elderly drivers are derived.