Vision and Night Driving Abilities of Elderly Drivers

Gruber, Nicole; Mosimann, Urs Peter; Müri, René M.; Nef, Tobias

doi:10.1080/15389588.2012.727510

Cited by 64 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(128 reference statements)

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“…93 However, while the self-reported visual difficulties of older drivers are well established, there have been only limited numbers of studies that have explored the relationship between the visual characteristics of older drivers and their actual nighttime driving ability and safety. 96 Closed road studies have explored the effect of driver age on nighttime pedestrian detection, finding that older drivers recognised that a pedestrian was present at much shorter distances, and were more likely to fail to detect the pedestrian, than younger drivers. 13,18,19,97 In one study, the mean distance at which older drivers first detected the presence of a pedestrian was only 58% that of younger drivers.…”

Section: Older Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nighttime driving: visual, lighting and visibility challenges

Wood

2019

Ophthalmic Physiologic Optic

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Purpose Nighttime driving is dangerous and is one of the most challenging driving situations for most drivers. Fatality rates are higher at night than in the day when adjusted for distances travelled, particularly for crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists. Although there are multiple contributory factors, the low light levels at night are believed to be the major cause of collisions with pedestrians and cyclists at night, most likely due to their reduced visibility. Understanding the visibility problems involved in nighttime driving is thus critical, given the increased risk to road safety. Recent Findings This review discusses research that highlights key differences in the nighttime road environment compared to the day and how this affects visual function and driving performance, together with an overview of studies investigating how driver age and visual status affect nighttime driving performance. Research that has focused on the visibility of vulnerable road users at nighttime (pedestrians and cyclists) is also included. Summary Collectively, the research evidence suggests that visual function is reduced under the mesopic lighting conditions of night driving and that these effects are exacerbated by increasing age and visual impairment. Light and glare from road lighting and headlights have significant impacts on vision and night driving and these effects are likely to change with evolving technologies, such as LED streetlighting and headlights. Research also highlights the importance of the visibility of vulnerable road users at night and the role of retroreflective clothing in the ‘biomotion’ configuration for improving their conspicuity and hence safety.

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Section: Older Driversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nighttime driving: visual, lighting and visibility challenges

Wood

2019

Ophthalmic Physiologic Optic

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“…Traditional measures of high-contrast photopic visual acuity are poor predictors of night-time visual function and driving ability. 46 Alternative tests have been advocated that involve reductions in target contrast and luminance levels to provide information regarding low luminance functional ability, 43,47 as well as insight into visual loss in ocular disease. 44,48 Individual differences in photopic visual acuity do not predict variations in night driving recognition ability, with mesopic measures being better predictors; 18 however, measurement of mesopic visual acuity may be variable due to variations in chart luminance at these low levels, which can significantly affect visual acuity.…”

Section: Relevant Visual Functionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The conspicuity of pedestrians at night: a review

Tyrrell

Wood

Owens

et al. 2016

Clinical and Experimental Optometry

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Drivers' visual limitations are a leading contributor to night-time traffic crashes involving pedestrians. This paper reviews the basic changes in vision that occur at night for young and old visually healthy drivers, as well as those with common ocular pathology. To maximise their safety at night, pedestrians should be conspicuous. That is, beyond being simply visible (detectable as an ambiguous object), they should attract the attention of drivers and be readily perceivable as pedestrians. Research has established that the conspicuity of pedestrians can be optimised by attaching retroreflective markings to the pedestrian's extremities. Doing so highlights the pedestrian's 'biological motion,' which facilitates the accurate perception of a person; however, retroreflective markings on the torso (for example, vests) are less effective. Importantly, behavioural evidence indicates that most road users -drivers and pedestrians alikeare not aware of the limitations of night vision. For example, drivers typically 'overdrive' the useful range of their headlight beams and under-use their high beam headlight setting. Further, pedestrians overestimate their own conspicuity at night and fail to appreciate the extent to which their own conspicuity depends on their clothing. The widespread misunderstanding of the challenges associated with night driving reflects a lack of awareness of the fundamental limitations of night vision. Educational interventions are needed to ameliorate these dangerous misunderstandings and to improve the safety of all road users at night.

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“…Another important behaviour is that DG is governed by the ratio of the luminance of the glare source to the luminance of the stimulus that the observer is trying to view . The situation is exemplified by the problem of oncoming car headlights when driving at night – this can produce a significant reduction in visual performance due to the low illuminance of the road ahead . The same headlights during daytime would produce negligible DG because of the brightness of the scene.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10,17 The situation is exemplified by the problem of oncoming car headlights when driving at nightthis can produce a significant reduction in visual performance due to the low illuminance of the road ahead. [18][19][20] The same headlights during daytime would produce negligible DG because of the brightness of the scene. For this reason, when considering the possible glare effects of an HMD, measurements need to be taken across a large range of luminance levels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%