Crash avoidance in response to challenging driving events: The roles of age, serialization, and driving simulator platform

We examined the crash avoidance behaviors of older and middle-aged drivers in reaction to six simulated challenging road events using two different driving simulator platforms. Thirty-five healthy adults aged 21-36 years old (M = 28.9 ± 3.96) and 35 healthy adults aged 65-83 years old (M = 72.1 ± 4.34) were tested using a mid-level simulator, and 27 adults aged 21-38 years old (M = 28.6 ± 6.63) and 27 healthy adults aged 65-83 years old (M = 72.7 ± 5.39) were tested on a low-cost desktop simulator. Participants completed a set of six challenging events varying in terms of the maneuvers required, avoiding space given, directional avoidance cues, and time pressure. Results indicated that older drivers showed higher crash risk when events required multiple synchronized reactions. In situations that required simultaneous use of steering and braking, older adults tended to crash significantly more frequently. As for middle-aged drivers, their crashes were attributable to faster driving speed. The same age-related driving patterns were observed across simulator platforms. Our findings support the hypothesis that older adults tend to react serially while engaging in cognitively challenging road maneuvers.