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The Hazard Perception Ability of Older Drivers

¹ School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Australia.
² School of Optometry, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Brisbane, Australia.

Address correspondence to Dr. Mark S. Horswill, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia. E-mail: m.horswill{at}psy.uq.edu.au

We investigated the hazard perception ability of older drivers. A sample of 118 older drivers (65 years and older) completed a video-based hazard perception test and an assessment battery designed to measure aspects of cognitive ability, vision, and simple reaction time that might plausibly be linked to hazard perception ability. We found that hazard perception response times increased significantly with age but that this age-related increase could be accounted for by measures of contrast sensitivity and useful field of view. We found that contrast sensitivity, useful field of view, and simple reaction time could account for the variance in hazard perception, independent of one another and of individual differences in age.

Key Words: Contrast sensitivity • Hazard perception • Useful field of view