title: Driving a better driving experience: a questionnaire survey of older compared with younger drivers.
abstract: A questionnaire survey of drivers (n = 903) was conducted covering musculoskeletal symptoms, the vehicle seat, access to specific vehicle features, ingress/egress, driving performance and driving behaviours. Significantly, more discomfort was reported by older drivers (aged 65+) in the hips/thighs/buttocks and knees. Older drivers reported more difficulty parallel parking (p ≤ 0.01), driving on a foggy day (p ≤ 0.01), and turning their head and body to reverse (p ≤ 0.001). They also reported that their reactions were slower than they used to be (p ≤ 0.01). Dissatisfaction was found by all drivers with adjusting the headrest (height and distance), seat belt height and opening/closing the boot. There is a growing population of older people globally, and the number of older drivers is showing a parallel increase. Clearly, efforts are needed to ensure car design of the future is more inclusive of older drivers. Practitioner Summary: This paper describes a questionnaire survey of drivers on their driving experience - the vehicle seat, access to specific vehicle features, ingress/egress, driving performance and driving behaviours. Comparisons are made by age and gender. Issues with driving and vehicle design particularly for older drivers in the UK are identified.
authors.affiliation: a Loughborough Design School , Loughborough University , Loughborough , UK.
authors.forename: Sukru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karali
authors.affiliation: a Loughborough Design School , Loughborough University , Loughborough , UK.
authors.forename: Diane E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Gyi
authors.affiliation: a Loughborough Design School , Loughborough University , Loughborough , UK.|b Dyson School of Design Engineering , Imperial College , London , UK.
authors.forename: Neil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Mansfield
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000523:psychology*; D001336:Automobiles; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Vehicle ergonomics; ageing; driving; ergonomics methods and tools