Predicting the Coping Skills of Older Drivers in the Face of Unexpected Situation

Abstract

In recent years, when an older driver who cannot immediately recognize, judge, and operate properly faces an unexpected situation, they often panic, which may cause a traffic accident. However, there has not yet been enough discussion about the coping skills of older drivers in the face of this unexpected situation. Therefore, this study discusses the coping skills of older drivers in the face of unexpected situations. Moreover, we propose a coping skills prediction system (CP system). The CP system predicts coping skills from the tilt angle and angular velocity of the left foot when an older driver is driving or preparing to start a car. The experiment carried out two phases, a phase of driving a car and a phase of preparing to start the car. In the driving phase, the young and older driver drive the car in a driving simulator. The average age of the young driver group was ± standard deviation = 20.6 ± 0.7 years, and the age of the older driver group was 78.5 ± 5.1 years. The driving route included 15 cases in which collision accidents are likely to occur. We analyzed the experimental results of the driving phase and clarified the predictors of coping skills. Moreover, we analyzed the correlation between the left foot movement in driving and the left foot movement during preparing to start the car. As a result of the experiment, there was a 0.84 correlation between the tilt angle of the left foot of the older driver in driving and the tilt angle of the left foot of the older driver in preparing to start the car. The result shows that the coping skills can be predicted from the tilt angle of the left foot of the older driver during preparing to start the car. We showed that the coping skill can be predicted with an accuracy of 92% or 94% on average from the tilt angle and the angular velocity of the left foot while driving or preparing to start the car. Moreover, we clarified that the tilt angle of the left foot of a driver without coping skills is perpendicular to the ground compared to a driver with coping skills. This study is expected to contribute to the prevention of traffic accidents that occur in the face of an unexpected situation.

Effect of Behavioral Precaution on Braking Operation of Elderly Drivers under Cognitive Workloads

“…Behavioral precautions are advance preparations such as stabilizing the body and making space so that the brakes can be accurately and easily applied. A related study [ 8 ] defined coping skills as the ability to take appropriate behavioral precautions. Coping skills are different from a working memory and attention.…”

“…This study compares driving behavior on a simulator with driving behavior in the real world. It provides insights into real-world behavioral precautions that have not been verified in related studies [ 8 ].…”

“…These factors increase elderly drivers’ exposure to the risk of collision in situations with a mental workload. A related work [ 8 ] analyzed the driving behavior of an elderly driver using a driving simulator and suggested that elderly drivers who felt impatience and nervousness could not properly step on the brake pedal. In addition, elderly drivers who took behavioral precautions, such as stabilizing their bodies with their left foot in case of an unexpected situation, had fewer accidents in the simulator [ 8 ].…”

“…A related work [ 8 ] analyzed the driving behavior of an elderly driver using a driving simulator and suggested that elderly drivers who felt impatience and nervousness could not properly step on the brake pedal. In addition, elderly drivers who took behavioral precautions, such as stabilizing their bodies with their left foot in case of an unexpected situation, had fewer accidents in the simulator [ 8 ]. The ability to prepare for this unexpected situation in advance was defined as a coping skill.…”

Load Measurement of the Cervical Vertebra C7 and the Head of Passengers of a Car While Driving across Uneven Terrain

“…The cervical vertebra C7 was chosen due to the frequency of cervical vertebrae injuries (C0 to C2 = 20%, C3 to C7 = 80%) [ 1 , 16 , 17 ]. Vertebra C7 is also the most easily palpable.…”