PILOT RESULTS ON FORWARD COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS IN OLDER DRIVERS

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Automotive Engineering
• Gerontology

Background:

• Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) often use a universal design approach.
• This overlooks significant variations in perceptual and cognitive abilities among aging drivers.
• Individual differences impact the effectiveness of ADAS for older adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a fixed-parameter Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system.
• To compare its effectiveness in young versus older drivers with varying cognitive functions.
• To identify age-related differences in response to ADAS interventions.

Main Methods:

• A simulated urban driving scenario presented a pedestrian crossing.
• Participants included young and older drivers with diverse cognitive profiles.
• Measured behavioral metrics: response times (RT) and risk penetration (deceleration, Time-to-Collision/TTC).

Main Results:

• Older drivers demonstrated significantly slower response times than younger drivers.
• The FCW system improved RTs for both age groups.
• Older drivers achieved smaller safety gains with the FCW compared to younger drivers.

Conclusions:

• Fixed-parameter FCW systems do not fully mitigate age-related differences in driving performance.
• Older drivers' responses to ADAS differ from younger drivers.
• Future ADAS development should consider personalized parameter sets based on individual cognitive functioning.