Road Safety Engineering and Senior Drivers

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Road Safety Engineering and Senior Drivers***While there has been much attention directed to the under-performance of older drivers operating private motor vehicles, little is understood regarding their safety experience in settings that involve higher workloads associated with commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailers, transit buses (urban and inter-city), and school buses. Increased complexity of the driving task is compounded with an inability to self-regulate (e.g., avoid peak traffic periods, inclement weather and night-time hours) which is common among senior drivers of private vehicles. A particular concern has been the recent abolition of mandatory retirement policies in most Canadian jurisdictions that were directed toward school bus drivers. It is now possible for all commercial drivers to continue working beyond the traditional retirement age of 65 years. This study will examine the safety performance of different categories of commercial drivers by age cohort in an attempt to quantify the presumed deterioration of safety performance among the older age groups. These results will be beneficial to support policies and/or countermeasures that target the on-going employment of senior drivers.***Another objective of the research program will examine how senior driver crash involvement is responding to changes in vehicle technology and road engineering. While a number of studies have looked at global crash results by different age cohorts, little is understood about the evolution of seniors as the driving environment rapidly changes to include advances in vehicle design, traffic control, and road infrastructure. It is necessary to understand how these changes are affecting both driver crash involvement as well as overall travel mobility so that engineers and policy-makers can respond to changing needs. ****A second vein of research captured under this proposal will address the general area of school zone safety to exploit the researcher's expertise in the road safety engineering field. While much effort has addressed so-called safe routes to schools issues, the traffic control measures used to delineate school areas and zones is generally not founded on observed safety performance. Little is understood about collision experience within school zones, yet extraordinary traffic control measures such as speed display units are currently in high public demand in both urban and rural settings. ********