Visual motion sensitivity and driving performance and safety

Perceiving and interpreting motion in the visual world is an important and complex visual process involved in activities such as driving, which involves the motion of both the driver's own vehicle and that of other road users. Research has explored the association between tests of motion sensitivity and a range of indices of driving performance and safety, to better understand the role of motion sensitivity in driving and its ability to predict driving performance and safety. This review provides an overview of research that has explored associations between motion sensitivity tests and measures of driving performance and safety. Collectively, the findings suggest that motion sensitivity is important in the timely detection of hazards, as well as for visually guided vehicle control behaviours (e.g., lane-keeping). Impaired motion sensitivity has been shown to be associated with delayed hazard response times in computer-based tests, impaired driving performance assessed in closed and open road studies, as well as increased crash risk. Given the many driving performance outcomes in on-road and simulator studies related to motion sensitivity, further work should explore motion sensitivity as a risk factor for unsafe driving performance and collision involvement in older adults.