Assisting the older driver - SWOV

Assisting the older driver
items and more traffic lanes to scan at the intersections included in Intyoung
than there were at the intersections included in Intold.
As far as the quality of the traffic‐related is concerned, visibility of
delineation was the only variable whose values significantly differed
between Intold and Intyoung. Again, the direction was opposite to the one that
was expected. The quality of the pavement markings was better at the
intersections included in Intold than it was at the intersections included in
Intyoung.
Of the variables that were expected to describe the general time pressure
brought about by the road environment, only view of the intersection and
parked cars near the corner of the street had values that significantly differed
between intersections included in Intold and Intyoung. Opposite to what was
expected, the view of the intersection was worse at streets approaching the
latter intersections, and parked cars at the corner(s) of the approaching
streets were more often (one of) the cause(s) of the obstructed views of these
same intersections.
The only variable whose values confirmed our expectations about the task
difficulty of intersections, was the one that indicates the implementation of
right of way. Traffic lights, which reduce the number of decisions that a
driver has to take to a minimum, were less often present at intersections
included in Intold than they were at intersections included in Intyoung. The
former intersections were more often regulated by means of traffic signs (i.e.,
stop, yield or priority‐signs).
Intersection characteristics that may conflict with experience were hardly
found at any of the selected intersections, neither at the intersections
included in Intyoung, nor at the intersections included in Intold.
Background variables indicated that Intold and Intyoung differed significantly
on two aspects of the composition of road users. The latter group of
intersections included more intersections that were used by many heavy
goods vehicles and public transportation. The former group included more
intersections at which the percentage of older drivers passing the intersection
was smaller than average. Strange enough, the percentage of people living in
the neighbourhood that are aged 65 and above was higher for the
intersections included in Intold than it was for the intersections included in
Intyoung. Looking at those three intersections that appear to be used by
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