COUNTERMEASURES TO IMPROVE THE DRIVING PERFORMANCE OF OLDER DRIVERS

A 2-year study of the problems of older drivers (N = 105) was conducte d by a team of researchers from the disciplines of traffic engineering , gerontology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and driver educ ation. The objective of the research was to develop and evaluate count ermeasures to improve the safety of older drivers. During the first ye ar, the problems of older drivers were examined and the following coun termeasures designed: (a) physical therapy, (b) perceptual therapy, (c ) driver education, and (d) traffic engineering improvements. In the s econd year, the effects of these countermeasures on the driving perfor mance of older drivers were evaluated. All of the countermeasures impr oved the older adults' performance. Combining driver education with ph ysical or perceptual therapy tended to increase the improvement in dri ving performance, but none of the increases were statistically signifi cant (s > .015). The countermeasures provided an average improvement i n driving performance of 7.9%. Analysis indicated that traffic enginee ring improvements would be most cost-effective on high-volume roadways and the other countermeasures would be most cost-effective on low-vol ume roadways.