NTL Record

Title Older Drivers and Navigation Devices
Record ID 65598
Personal Name
Creator
Thomas, F. Dennis; Dickerson, Anne E.; Blomberg, Richard D.; Graham, Lindsey A.; Wright, Timothy J.; Finstad, Kraig A.; Romoser, Matthew R. E.
Corporate Creator Dunlap and Associates, Inc.
Corporate
Contributor
United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Office of Behavioral Safety Research
Publisher United States. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Publication Date 20180600
Language English
Abstract This project examined measures related to older adults’ driving performance while they drove to a familiar destination without navigation aids, and when following new routes they had not previously driven using paper directions or an electronic navigation system (ENS), often called a “GPS.” Phase 1 also explored the effects of experience/familiarity using an ENS on driving, route-following, and manual destination entry task performance. Phase 2 explored the impact of training in ENS use on driving behavior and destination entry performance. Phase 1 found that on average all age and familiarity groups exhibited better driving performance when using the ENS compared to paper directions. The 70-and-older group members who were previously unfamiliar with the use of an ENS had the poorest driving test scores. The Phase 1 destination entry task focused on determining whether the drivers could correctly enter addresses into the device. People in their 60s performed better on this task than did those in their 70s, and participants who were familiar with ENS outperformed those who were not. Phase 2 showed that training on the use of an ENS did not improve driving performance, but did improve performance on destination entry tasks. This study suggests that ENS systems are difficult for older drivers to program, but training such as that developed for the study can improve the ability of these drivers to correctly enter destinations. Any driving performance benefits the systems may afford drivers cannot be realized if a user cannot correctly input a destination or becomes frustrated and rejects the use of the ENS device altogether.
Rosap ID dot:37855
Rosap URL https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/37855
ResearchHub ID 9983
TRT Terms Aged drivers; Driver performance; Driver rehabilitation; Driver training; Global Positioning System; Highway safety; Motor vehicle navigational aids; Navigation
General Subjects Older Drivers; Devices; electronic navigation system; ENS; route-following; driving rehabilitation; destination entry; safety; training; GPS; Research Hub
Geographical
Coverage
United States
TRIS Online
Accession No
1684285
Contract Number DTNH2209D00138L, Task Order 8
Report Number DOT HS 812 587
Resource type Tech Report
URL https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/65000/65500/65598/DOT-HS-812587_20190103.pdf
Format PDF
Database NTL Digital Repository