Age-Related Deficits in the Frequency of Gaze Responses to the Mirrors and Blind-Spot During Land Change Maneuvers of Various Complexity

Lane changing is a complex driving maneuver that could challenge elderly drivers. The aim of this study was to evaluate eye glances of young and elderly active drivers when engaging lane change maneuvers. Twelve young (aged 21-31 years) and eleven older (aged 65-75 years) active drivers drove through a continuous simulated environment (STISIM, v2.0). The scenario included 16 events where the driver needed to glance at three important regions of interest (ROI): 1) the rear-view mirror, 2) the left-side mirror, and 3) the left blind spot to ensure secure lane change. The lane change maneuvers were necessary 1) to avoid a static object that was partially or completely blocking the lane or 2) for overtaking a slower moving vehicle. Compared with younger drivers, older drivers showed a reduced frequency of glances towards the left-side mirror and the blind spot. Also, while the older drivers showed a constant frequency of glances across the two types of driving maneuvers (i.e., avoiding a static object and overtaking a slower vehicle), the younger drivers generally showed a higher frequency of glances and this frequency increased when overtaking a slower vehicle. A better knowledge of the elderly drivers’ behavior could enable researchers to identify at-risk behaviors and to retrain older drivers to adopt safer behaviors.