Automated vehicles and older drivers in Canada.

INTRODUCTION: As seniors represent a growing proportion of the driving population, research about how automated vehicles can help improve older driver safety and mobility is highly relevant. This paper examines the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of older drivers towards limited self-driving vehicles (LSDVs), and how these variables can influence the likelihood that they will rely on this technology. METHOD: The study includes data from a previous national survey (N = 2662) about automated vehicle technology, with new analyses to test hypothetical models using structural equation modeling. Results of the first model were confirmed and built upon with a second more complex model that incorporated the construct "behavioral adaptation." Focus groups with older drivers were also conducted (N = 38) to help reveal nuances in older drivers' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors regarding this technology. RESULTS: Survey results demonstrated that feelings of safety and knowledge about LSDVs are positively related to perceived ease of use and adoption of the technology. The positive association between safety and perceived ease of use was further highlighted when comparing responses of older drivers to those of younger age groups, as older drivers were significantly less likely to agree that LSDVs were easy to use and were significantly less agreeable about feeling safe using them. Focus groups results confirmed that safety and knowledge of LSDVs are essential to the likelihood of adopting this technology, and revealed a high receptivity among older drivers to educational strategies and tools to increase their knowledge of LSDVs. Implications for educational strategies and safety benefits for older drivers are discussed. Practical applications: Results provide insight into strategies to encourage the early adoption of automated vehicles by older drivers and facilitate a safer transition towards automated vehicles that is lead by a cohort of safety-conscious drivers.

Effects of Magnification on Emotion Perception in Patients With Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: Individuals with low vision often experience difficulties in performing tasks of daily living, such as face perception. This leads them to having difficulties with social interactions, as they can no longer correctly perceive the emotion of others. The present study investigated the effects of magnification on face perception in participants with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and their ability to detect and categorize emotions. It was hypothesized that patients with AMD would be less accurate in comparison to healthy controls, but that magnification would improve their performance to that of controls. Methods: Faces containing happy, angry, or neutral emotion were both doubled (equivalent of arm's length distance) and decreased by half in size (equivalent of across the street). The ability to detect and to discriminate emotional content was compared between 20 AMD patients and 7 age-matched controls. Eye movements were recorded while conducting both tasks. Results: Regardless of stimulus size, when compared to controls, we observed that individuals with AMD consistently performed with lower accuracy in both emotion detection and categorization tasks. Moreover, having images undergo a 2-fold increase in size did improve performance, but did not equate AMD participants' performance to that of the controls in either the emotion detection or categorization task. Eye movements in AMD participants were highly variable in position compared to controls. Conclusions: The data suggest that magnification alone does not appear to be the answer for improving emotion perception within individuals with low vision. Next steps should include an evaluation of the effects of viewing strategy.

A brief peripheral motion contrast threshold test predicts older drivers' hazardous behaviors in simulated driving.

Our research group has previously demonstrated that the peripheral motion contrast threshold (PMCT) test predicts older drivers' self-report accident risk, as well as simulated driving performance. However, the PMCT is too lengthy to be a part of a battery of tests to assess fitness to drive. Therefore, we have developed a new version of this test, which takes under two minutes to administer. We assessed the motion contrast thresholds of 24 younger drivers (19-32) and 25 older drivers (65-83) with both the PMCT-10min and the PMCT-2min test and investigated if thresholds were associated with measures of simulated driving performance. Younger participants had significantly lower motion contrast thresholds than older participants and there were no significant correlations between younger participants' thresholds and any measures of driving performance. The PMCT-10min and the PMCT-2min thresholds of older drivers' predicted simulated crash risk, as well as the minimum distance of approach to all hazards. This suggests that our tests of motion processing can help predict the risk of collision or near collision in older drivers. Thresholds were also correlated with the total lane deviation time, suggesting a deficiency in processing of peripheral flow and delayed detection of adjacent cars. The PMCT-2min is an improved version of a previously validated test, and it has the potential to help assess older drivers' fitness to drive.