Effects of car-navigation display positioning on older drivers' visual search

This paper examined the effects of the positioning of car-navigation displays on the visual search of drivers for the safety driving of the elderly. A driving simulation with a car-navigation system was conducted, by which eye movements and braking reaction time were measured. We found that the range of eye movements of older drivers had a tendency to look at car-navigation display and center of the field of view only and that reaction times for the older drivers were generally longer while the younger drivers effectively moved their eyes over a wide area to collect the necessary information. The older drivers were more substantially affected by the positioning of the car-navigation display. It is desirable that car-navigation systems be placed near the center of the field of view to minimize the eye movements and reaction time of the older drivers.