Transport Canada to Study Driver Assist for Older Drivers
IVsource.net
21 September 2002

Transport Canada is sponsoring new research to test whether advanced in-car technology, such as infrared monitors and audio warning systems, could reduce the number of crashes involving elderly drivers -- considered a growing road-accident threat. 

Transport Canada is sponsoring new research to test whether advanced in-car technology, such as infrared monitors and audio warning systems, could reduce the number of crashes involving elderly drivers.  This category of incidents is considered a growing road-accident threat.

The hope is that "intelligent transportation system" technology would help older motorists better keep track of the pedestrians, cars, traffic lights, and other distractions they face at intersections.   Scientists at the University of Calgary, which is likely to be awarded the research contract, would use a computerized driving simulator to test the most promising device.  There are indications that the scientists might take devices with the most potential into the marketplace.

Significant research on older drivers has been performed in both the US and Canada.  Work so far has shown that the elderly are slower in responding to sudden changes at intersections, and more likely to focus solely on traffic signals.   Research from the United States has shown that drivers older than 75 are far more likely than others to get into fatal crashes at those intersections, said Dr. Jeff Caird, who heads the University of Calgary team.

"Transport Canada is very interested in pursuing a solution to a known problem that has the potential benefit of reducing older-driver intersection accidents," he said.  "We have some very good ideas that we want to explore."

Like the US, Canada has no shortage of disastrous crash stories relating to aged drivers.  In one case, a woman was killed after she was struck and dragged for nearly a mile beneath an Oldsmobile driven by an 84-year-old -- the driver was convicted of criminal negligence.  In Victoria two years ago, a 75-year-old woman veered on to a sidewalk and drove through a crowd of pedestrians, injuring several.  An 80-year-old man drove off a pier at Vancouver's Granville Island when he mistook the gas pedal for the brake.  His wife, a passenger, died.

A study by the Urban Futures Institute in British Columbia found that, for Canada, the per-capita rate of accidents among men older than 75 has for the first time exceeded the rate among the 15 to 29 group, traditionally the most accident-prone. The 15 to 29-year-olds are second, followed by women older than 70.

Provincial government studies have shown that, taking into account the relatively fewer miles they drive, elderly drivers get into significantly more accidents than younger people, said Ethel Archard of the Canada Safety Council.   At the same time, people older than 80 are the fastest-growing segment of the motoring public, she said. "It's a big, big issue," she said. "You do get to a point where there are problems, and they have to be addressed."

Transport Canada, however, is not sponsoring the research solely because it sees seniors as a growing road-safety danger, said Christina Van Loon, a department spokeswoman.  It simply regards intelligent transportation systems as potentially helpful to them, she said.

The problems of elderly drivers are likely related to a slow degradation of attention, control of their vehicle, and the ability to attend to many things at one time, Dr. Caird said.  His group, if it is awarded the contract, will look at the types of technology being developed in the industry, including vision enhancement systems such as night vision.  The researchers will investigate the usefulness of using the car’s audio system to emphasize warnings from such systems.  At the same time, they want to make sure the driver assist systems do not take up too much driver attention away from the road, Dr. Caird said.

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