Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management

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Browsing Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management by Subject "Driving"

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    Open Access
    The effect of a new road safety device with auditory alerts on older drivers
    (Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference, 2008) Porter, Michelle M.; Ash, Heather
    The purpose of this study was to examine a newly designed road safety device as used by older drivers. The Otto Driving Companion (Persen Technologies, Winnipeg, MB) is a portable device that provides drivers with "instant information about [their] driving environment" and can act as a data logger. The device has a global positioning system (GPS) receiver so it can determine the vehicle’s location and speed approximately every second. If the speed limit has been exceeded, the driver will immediately be given an auditory alert telling them "Speed Limit Exceeded". In addition, the Otto will provide auditory alerts when the driver approaches potential hazards (e.g., a "Crosswalk"). Using the OttoLog feature and Persen Technologies’ software, driving patterns can be captured, saved and analyzed offline. This means that, for example, actual driving speed can be compared to the speed limit, across many days of driving. Although older drivers are not as likely to speed as young drivers, older drivers are more limited in their ability to quickly process all the visual information available during driving. This means looking at their speedometer might result in difficulties with seeing everything in their driving environment. Also, because there is a lot of visual information on our roads today they might not see warning signs (such as speed limit signs) at the side of the road. Therefore, auditory alerts might improve their road safety. Older drivers (69 to 91 years old, n = 12) completed a two-week study examining their speeding behaviours as well as their responses to the Otto. In the first week of the study only the data logging features of the Otto were operational, whereas in the second week, the auditory alerts were turned on. During the first week the subjects were unaware that their driving between week one and two would be compared. At the end of the second week the drivers were asked to respond to several questions about the Otto. In addition, their speed information across both weeks was examined to determine if the Otto resulted in less time above the speed limit, when auditory alerts were provided. Most drivers found the Otto to be useful, although a few drivers found the Otto to be a distraction. The subjects did speed less often (p < 0.05) in week two when the auditory alerts were turned on as compared to week one when the auditory alert feature was turned off. As most subjects found the Otto useful, and speed reductions did occur, this device seems to hold some promise as a road safety device for older drivers.
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    Open Access
    Older driver estimates of driving exposure compared to in-vehicle data in the Candrive II study
    (Taylor and Francis, 2015-01) Porter, Michelle M.; Smith, G.A.; Cull, A.W.; Myers, A.M.; Bedard, M.; Gelinas, I.; Mazer, B.; Marshall, S.C.; Naglie, G.; Rapoport, M.J.; Tuokko, H.A.; Vrkljan, B.H.
    OBJECTIVE: Most studies on older adults' driving practices have relied on self-reported information. With technological advances it is now possible to objectively measure the everyday driving of older adults in their own vehicles over time. The purpose of this study was to examine the ability of older drivers to accurately estimate their kilometers driven over one year relative to objectively measured driving exposure. METHODS: A subsample (n = 159 of 928; 50.9% male) of Candrive II participants (age >/= 70 years of age) was used in these analyses based on strict criteria for data collected from questionnaires as well as an OttoView-CD Autonomous Data Logging Device installed in their vehicle, over the first year of the prospective cohort study. RESULTS: Although there was no significant difference overall between the self-reported and objectively measured distance categories, only moderate agreement was found (weighted kappa = 0.57; 95% confidence interval, 0.47-0.67). Almost half (45.3%) chose the wrong distance category, and some people misestimated their distance driven by up to 20,000 km. Those who misjudged in the low mileage group (/= 20,000); that is, they always overestimated their driving distance. CONCLUSIONS: Although self-reported driving distance categories may be adequate for studies entailing broad group comparisons, caution should be used in interpreting results. Use of self-reported estimates for individual assessments should be discouraged.
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    Speed and acceleration patterns of younger and older drivers
    (Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference, 2006) Nakagawa, Satoru; Kriellaars, Dean; Blais, Christine; Montufar, Jeannette; Porter, Michelle M.
    Driving and aging is an area that is receiving more research attention. Most studies have been epidemiological or laboratory-based. Few studies have examined in-vehicle performance, and those that do usually rely on the subjective evaluation of an observer inside or outside the vehicle. The purpose of this study was to examine driver-induced vehicle longitudinal movements under real life conditions in younger (30 - 50 years) and older ($70 years) men and women. It was hypothesized that both the younger drivers and the male drivers would show higher speed and acceleration related values. A total of 49 drivers (13 younger men, age 37.8 ± 5.9; 12 younger women, age 40.2± 7.1; 13 older men, age 76.0 ± 4.6; and 11 older women, age 76.7 ± 5.5) drove a 26 km road course which included residential, collector, arterial and highway roads with 30 intersections. The vehicle movement data were collected by a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver which was installed in each subject’s own vehicle. In addition, the scene in front of the driver was captured using a digital video camera, without the image of the driver, to provide context for the GPS data. The following maximum speed data were analysed: 1) the whole road course, 2) within all the sections between the 30 intersections and 3) within all the sections between the 12 stop signs. The acceleration and the deceleration data were analysed only between the stop sign intersections because of the consistent speed limits on these sections (50 km/hr). The data were then statistically analysed between the age and the gender groups by multivariate analysis of variance/covariance. Results showed that there were age differences for maximum speeds, for all three analyses (i.e., whole road course, all sections, stop sign sections), with the younger drivers having faster speeds than the older drivers. Acceleration results showed that older drivers accelerated over a longer distance than younger drivers, and that older female drivers had less deceleration over a longer distance than younger female and older male drivers. It is concluded that age group differences exist for speed and acceleration, under real-world conditions. The current study’s results have implications for road safety because previous studies have concluded that drivers with crashes had higher maximum speeds and accelerations than drivers with no crash record.
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    The use of a naturalistic driving route for characterizing older drivers
    (Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference, 2012) Smith, Glenys A.; Cull, Andrew W.; Mence, Rachel; Charlton, Judith; Langford, Jim; Koppel, Sjaan; Porter, Michelle M.
    Although the vast majority of older drivers are safe, there are some older drivers who are at risk of crashes due to health-related changes in functional status. For licensing agencies worldwide it is a challenge to identify unsafe older drivers. One form of older driver assessment that can be done conducted is an on-road test. Often this occurs in an unfamiliar vehicle and on roads that are not familiar to the older driver. This could be detrimental to their driving performance and lead to an overestimation of their crash risk. Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to determine whether the route used for the Driving Observation Schedule (DOS), a specific driving task designed to observe and record driving performance, is actually representative of older drivers’ everyday driving in Melbourne Australia. This is a sub-study of the Ozcandrive study, which is a partner study to Candrive. Methods: Older drivers (75+ years old) were asked to describe locations where they typically drive. A route was then devised to incorporate those locations, and the older driver was observed for their driving behaviours over this route. Older drivers’ vehicles were equipped with a device that monitored their driving locations by global positioning system (GPS) technology at 1 Hz. These same older drivers were followed over several months for their everyday driving using the same device. All trips made were compared for their location against the DOS route. These results were then expressed as a percentage of the trips that included a road from the DOS route, in order to determine how representative the DOS route was of each older drivers’ everyday driving. In addition to location, speed patterns were also compared between the DOS route and everyday driving. Results: The average distance of the DOS route was 13.8 ± 5.3 km, and on average it took 31.0 ± 7.6 minutes to drive, for the 23 older drivers that were included in the sample for this study. Over the 108 ± 18 days whereby the older drivers were monitored for their everyday driving, the older drivers drove 2384 ± 1504 km, and made 385 ± 155 trips. The roads that were part of the DOS route represented 9 ± 8 percent of roads that were used during the everyday driving trips. The DOS route and driving was similar to everyday driving in terms of speed limits of the roadways, exceeding the speed limit, and speed of driving. Drivers spent the majority of time driving on roadways that had speed limits of 50 and 60 km/hr (DOS = 80.4%, everyday = 74.1%). There was a slight trend for everyday driving to be on roadways with faster speed limits and have faster driving than DOS driving. Conclusions: These results suggest that a route can be formulated that will be representative of most of the everyday driving of older drivers. Use of such a route has promise for determining the performance of older drivers under conditions which are typical for their everyday driving. Future research that combines driving behaviour observation, crash data, naturalistic driving as well as health and functional testing for individual older drivers will do much to provide more definitive information about this growing cohort of drivers.
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    Use of video technology and GPS as a tool for driver education – a preliminary investigation with older drivers
    (Canadian Multidisciplinary Road Safety Conference, 2004) Porter, Michelle M.; Melnyk, Micah G.
    Driver education programs have traditionally taken two general forms: in-classroom or in-vehicle. This study explores a variation on traditional in-vehicle driver education programs by using video technology instead of a driver educator in the passenger seat. A program of this type would be appropriate for currently licensed drivers. Advantages of using video technology include: the possibility of driver behaviour more like their everyday driving, increased safety for the driver educator, and more effective instruction. In this study, 8 subjects aged 70 and older drove a 26 km road course in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada while their driving was recorded. The course included all road types including residential, collector, arterial and expressway. Subjects were shown the video and global positioning system (GPS) speed data some time after performing the drive. Subjects watched the video first without feedback, and then with feedback and instruction from a driver educator. Common feedback from the driver educator included instruction on changing lanes, signaling, and stopping at stop signs. Subjects were given three questionnaires at various stages to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of the program. Subjects all agreed that the program was useful to them and all but one self reported using the lessons from the driver educator in their everyday driving 2 to 4 weeks after the video session. The subjects found watching the video with the driver educator feedback more useful than watching the video without feedback. Using in-vehicle video technology is a new opportunity for driver education programs and is an alternative to in-classroom programs for those looking to update their driving skills.