Although it is known that older drivers limit their driving, it is not known whether this self-regulation is related to actual driving ability. A sample of 104 older drivers, aged between 60 and 92, completed a questionnaire about driving habits and attitudes. Ninety of these drivers also completed a structured on-road driving test.A measure of self-regulation was derived from drivers' self-reported avoidance of difficult driving situations. The on-road driving test involved a standard assessment used to determine fitness to drive. Of the 90 participants who completed the driving assessment, 68 passed the test, eight passed but were recommended to have driving lessons and 14 failed. Driving test scores for the study were based on the number of errors committed in the driving tests, with weightings given according to the seriousness of the errors.The most commonly avoided difficult driving situations were parallel parking and driving at night in the rain, while the least avoided situation was driving alone. Poorer performance on the driving test was not strongly related to overall avoidance of difficult driving situations. Stronger relationships were found between driving ability and avoidance of specific difficult driving situations. These specific driving situations were the ones in which the drivers had low confidence and that the drivers were most able to avoid if they wished to. These results may reflect a tendency for those with poorer driving ability to lose confidence in their driving, and begin to avoid difficult driving situations. However, there are a number of situations that drivers find difficult to avoid.
This paper describes a biomechanical study of axonal injury due to a blunt impact to the head. The aim of the experimental model was to produce axonal injury analogous to that seen in human trauma while measuring the dynamics of the impact and the subsequent kinematics of the head. These measurements were made in a way to facilitate the simulation of these experiments using the finite element method. Sheep were anaesthetised and ventilated, and subjected to a single impact to the lateral aspect of their skull. The impact force was measured throughout the duration of the impact and the kinematics of the head was measured using a novel implementation of a nine-accelerometer array. The axonal injury was identified using amyloid precursor protein (APP) as a marker, intensified using antigen retrieval techniques. Axonal injury was consistently produced in all animals. Commonly injured regions included the sub-cortical and deep white matter, and the periventricular white matter surrounding the lateral ventricles. The observed axonal injury was mapped and quantified on three coronal sections of each brain. The measure used to describe the injury severity correlated with the peak magnitude of the impact force and with peak values of kinematic parameters, particularly the peak change of linear and angular velocity.
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