These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Merging into heavy motorway traffic by young and elderly drivers.
    Author: de Waard D, Dijksterhuis C, Brookhuis KA.
    Journal: Accid Anal Prev; 2009 May; 41(3):588-97. PubMed ID: 19393811.
    Abstract:
    An increase in the number of Heavy Goods Vehicles on motorways may lead to additional problems in the interaction with an increased number of elderly drivers. Elderly drivers suffer from reduced information processing speed and capacity, and in general effectively compensate for this by taking more time. However, this strategy, regulating task demands by slowing down will make merging into motorway traffic actually more difficult. In an experiment performed in a driving simulator, young and elderly drivers merged into motorway traffic. Driver behaviour and mental workload were studied while the following factors were manipulated: type of traffic and density of Heavy Goods Vehicles on the main road, the length of the acceleration lane, presence of a slowly driving lead car, and presence of a driver support system that encouraged the drivers to speed up if their speed was too low. Results show that the effects of an increased number of Heavy Goods Vehicles on the main road were not more adverse for elderly than for the young participants, with the exception that elderly drivers merged at a lower speed. This lower speed could make the manoeuvre more risky in real traffic. The support system and an extended acceleration lane facilitated merging, while a slowly driving lead car impeded completion of the manoeuvre.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]