ISSN: 2577-2953
Authors: Seunghee Hong, Byungchan Min, Takafumi Asao, Keisuke Suzuki and Shun’ichi Doi*
According to traffic accident reports, many of the accidents that occur at intersections are caused by elderly drivers, and development of an assistant system that can prevent non-stopping accidents (i.e., accidents that occur by not stopping when required) is currently a pressing need. To develop an anti-stopping alert, it has been assumed that an alarm that informs the driver about the impending approach of an intersection is effective. However, a uniform alarm system cannot be expected to influence the individual differences among elderly drivers. Then, audio-visual assistance systems that consist of a nudge that informs drivers about the existence of an intersection and of an approach alarm that follows the nudge, as well as of a display and a warning with sound and voice, were designed based on the timing when braking occurs and on a given elderly driver's braking behavior when approaching an intersection. In this research, considering an elderly driver's cognition, judgment capability, and individual driving abilities, and while investigating individual elderly drivers’ vision capabilities and judgment functions, a questionnaire survey on the posture and concerns about driving was conducted in advance. Subsequently, using the driving simulator of a city road, the driving behavior of an elderly driver from braking behavior to stopping performance was observed; furthermore, driving behavioral changes following the proposed driving assistance alarm were analyzed. The result of our analysis demonstrated that elderly drivers differed in their response to the assistance alarm according to their cognition and judgment capabilities, their experience, and driving style. The proposed system’s effectiveness was apparent when the alarm was adapted to each individual’s capabilities.
Keywords: Driving Assistant System (DAS); Stopping Alert; Elderly Drivers; Intersection
