Effect of advanced traveler information system displays on younger and older drivers' performance

Sixteen younger and 16 older drivers participated in this simulated driving experiment. They were instructed to perform a push button task and a navig ation task while using the displayed traffic information to drive through e ach scenario. The Advanced Traveler Information (ATI) was presented visuall y only, aurally only, or by multi-modality display. All drivers made signif icantly fewer errors in responding to hazard warnings when using multi-moda lity and auditory displays compared to visual-only displays. When the ATI s ystem presented complex information, multi-modality display led to signific antly faster and more accurate recognition of hazards and better control of car direction and speed. The results indicate that multi-modality display of ATI is optimal, particularly for older drivers. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e B.V. All rights reserved.