Publication

Faced with the aging of the population, it is crucial for older drivers to keep driving in order to ensure their mobility and autonomy in daily life as long as possible. Driving is an important aspect of maintaining mobility and independence in older adults. Driving is a complex task, requiring a range of visual, psychomotor and cognitive abilities. As people aged, a number of physical and cognitive changes, as well as health problems, may affect driving ability. The regulation of driving activity according to one’s actual motor, visual and cognitive state is crucial for continuing to drive in a safe manner, for maintaining mobility and autonomy and for reducing accident risk. The SafeMove project is based on the hypothesis that a correct estimation of one’s driving ability is necessary to drive safely in older drivers. A review of the literature on self-assessment of situations/scenarios that are challenging for older drivers was carried out. Two cohort studies were conducted (Sweden and France) to identify determinants of driving regulation, i.e. factors leading to under- and overestimation of cognitive performances and driving ability. On-road tests with a sub-set (approx. 40) of the respondents were performed in Sweden and will be performed in France. These results will together with a review of older driver training literature be used for the design of driving simulator-based training (DSBT) curricula which will primarily be evaluated with volunteers from the on-road tests. Furthermore, a current state-of-the-art and literature review of critical driving assistance systems for older drivers was carried out with the objective develop a Driver-Vehicle Interaction System (DVIS) to monitor and control assistance systems according to driver’s needs.