Elderly drivers and their accidents: the Aging Driver Questionnaire

The Manchester Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) was included as part of a questionnaire survey of 1989 drivers aged 50 or over. Previous research h as differentiated three main types of aberrant driver behavior: errors, lap ses and violations. Each of these has different psychological origins, and different implications for road safety interventions [Reason et al., 1990. Ergonomics 33, 1315-1312]. It has also been shown that, using a full age-ra nge sample of drivers, reported violations were statistically associated wi th accident involvement, whereas errors and lapses were not [Parker et al., 1995a. Ergonomics 38, 1036-1048; Parker et al., 1995b. Accident Analysis a nd Prevention 27, 571-581]. Although factor analysis of the DBQ responses o f this sample produced five factors, the original three-way distinction was preserved. However the pattern of relationships between factor scores and accident involvement was different. Relatively high scores on the error fac tor and the lapse factor were predictive of involvement in an active accide nt, while passive accident involvement was associated with high scores on t he lapse factor. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.