Inattention and Misjudgment in Older Drivers Involved in Automobile Collisions in Hawai'I,1986

Abstract

Motor vehicle collision reports filed by police officers may be useful in investigating driver behavior and identifying potential causal attributes of accident involvement. Inattention and misjudgment were two options appearing on police reports to explain the cause of motor vehicle collisions in Hawai'i from 1986 to 1991. Examination of all crash reports (n = 218,718) revealed that inattention and misjudgment are serious problems for older drivers (65 years and older, n = 14,179). For instance, for the 75 to 84 year old drivers involved in collisions (n = 3659), 36% were classified as inattentive and 22% were identified as having misjudgment errors in driving; for the 85 and older drivers (n = 340), these percentages were 41 and 22, respectively. Of the collisions involving older drivers, 48% were at intersections. Reports of inattention and misjudgments were highest at dusk and dawn compared to other times of the day and night. Among the rear-end collisions, 65% of the older rear-enders were inattentive drivers. Strong associations of inattentive older drivers were found with being a broadsider (49%), side-swiper (45%) and headoner. Misjudgments among older drivers were most associated with being a side-swiper (41% from the opposite direction and 37% from the same direction). Regarding vehicle maneuvers prior to the crash, inattention was associated with right turns on red (61%), U-turns (57%), starting from park (56%), backing (56%), changing lanes (48%), merging (45%), and making left turns (40%). Misjudgment errors were most likely to occur when overtaking (44%), parking (41%), making left turns (39%), and changing lanes (39%). Dangerous actions common among inattentive older drivers included disregarding traffic controls (72%), following too closely (67%), going the wrong way (54%), failing to yield (52%), improper turns (48%), and speeding (45%). Older drivers classified as having misjudgments were most likely to be involved in improper overtaking (46%), failure to yield (41%), and improper turns (39%).

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ball

Owsley

(1991). Identifying correlates of accident involvement for the older driver. Human Factors, 33(5), 583–595.

Ball

Owsley

Sloane

M.E.

Roenker

D.L.

Bruni

J.R.

(1993). Visual attention problems as a predictor of vehicle crashes in older drivers. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science, 34(11), 3110–3123.

Brouwer

Waterink

van Wolffelaar

P.C.

Rothengatter

(1991). Divided attention in experienced young and older drivers: Lane tracking and visual analysis in a dynamic driving simulator. Human Factors, 33(5), 573–582.

Evans

(1991). Older-driver risks to themselves and to other road users. Transportation Research Record, 1325, 34–41.

Foley

D.J.

Wallace

R.B.

Eberhard

(1995). Risk factors for motor vehicle crashes among older drivers in a rural community. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 776–781.

Hills

(1980). Vision, visibility, and perception in driving. Perception, 9, 183–216.

Hoffmsann

E.R.

Mortimer

R.G.

(1994). Drivers' estimates of time to collision. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 26(4), 511–520.

Kim

Nitz

(1996). Understanding causes of injuries in motor vehicle crashes. Transportation Quarterly, 50(1), 105–113.

Kim

Nitz

Richardson

(1994). Analyzing the relationship between crash types and injuries in motor vehicle collisions in Hawaii. Transportation Research Record 1467, 9–13.

10.

Kim

Nitz

Richardson

(1995). Personal and behavioral predictors of automobile crash and injury severity. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 27(4), 469–480.

11.

Madden

D.J.

Allen

P.A.

(1996). Attention. In Birren

J.E.

(Ed.), Encyclopedia of gerontology: Age, aging, and the aged Vol. 1 (pp. 131–140). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

12.

McDowd

J.M.

Vercruyssen

Birren

J.E.

(1991). Aging, divided attention, and dual-task performance. In Damos

D.L.

(Ed.), Multiple-task performance (pp. 387–414). London: Taylor & Francis.

13.

O'Day

(1993). Accident data quality, synthesis of highway practice 192. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

14.

Owsley

Ball

Sloane

M.E.

Roenker

D.L.

Bruni

J.R.

(1991). Visual/cognitive correlates of vehicle accidents in older drivers. Psychology and Aging, 6(3), 403–415.

15.

Parasuraman

Nestor

P.G.

(1991). Attention and driving skills in aging and Alzheimer's disease. Human Factors, 33(5), 539–557.

16.

Parasuraman

Nestor

P.G.

(1993). Attention and driving: Assessment in elderly individuals with dementia. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 9(2), 377–387.

17.

Pond

R.W.H.M.

Brouwer

W.H.

van Wolffelaar

P.C.

(1988). Age differences in divided attention in a simulated driving task. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 43(6), P151–156.

18.

Schieber

(1994). Recent developments in vision, aging and driving: 1988–1994. (Technical Report No. UMTRI-94-26). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Transportation Research Institute.

19.

Staplin

Lyles

R.W.

(1991). Age differences in motion perception and specific traffic maneuver problems. Transportation Research Record 1325, 23–33.

20.

Waller

P.F.

(1991). The older driver. Human Factors, 33(5), 499–505.

Inattention and Misjudgment in Older Drivers Involved in Automobile Collisions in Hawai'I,1986–1991

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References