A new approach to assessing self-regulation by older drivers : development and testing of a questionnaire instrument.

Details

• Creators:
  Molnar, L.J. ; Eby, D.W. ; Roberts, J.S. ; St. Louis, R. ; Langford, J.
• Corporate Contributors:
  University of Michigan. Transportation Research Institute
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Aged
  • Aged drivers
  • Traffic safety
  • Surveys
  • Older automobile drivers--United States--Psychology
  • Older people--Transportation--United States
  • Questionnaires.
• Publication/ Report Number:
  M-CASTL-2009-04
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Michigan
• Corporate Publisher:
  Michigan Center for Advancing Safe Transportation Throughout the Lifespan
• Abstract:
  Appropriate self-regulation of driving; that is, adjusting one’s driving patterns by driving less or avoiding specific ; situations in which one feels unsafe or uncomfortable, shows considerable promise as a strategy for compensating for ; functional declines and enabling older drivers to extend the time period over which they can safely drive. However, ; there is considerable variation across studies on self-regulation, making it difficult to determine the extent of selfregulatory ; practices by older drivers. The purpose of this project was to improve our understanding of the process of ; self-regulation by older drivers and how it relates to important driver characteristics including sex, confidence in ; driving ability, and functional abilities by: 1) developing a computer-based questionnaire instrument for use by ; jurisdictions in the United States and elsewhere to measure, in a comprehensive manner, the self-regulatory practices ; employed by older drivers; and 2) pilot testing the instrument with a sample of older drivers comprised of individuals ; with clinically-determined functional impairments in vision, cognition, or psychomotor ability, as well as normally ; functioning older adults recruited from the general population. Feedback on the computer-based questionnaire ; instrument was positive, with most participants considering the questions easy to read and understand (98.5% and ; 89.1%, respectively) and finding the length to be reasonable (93.4%). Most (91.2%) were satisfied with the ; computer format, despite the fact that only 11% described their level of experience with computers as high. Older ; participants were less satisfied with the computer format, although satisfaction was still high (81.6%). Overall, ; almost three-quarters of participants reported that if given a choice, they would prefer to take the questionnaire on a ; computer. Results indicate that overall, participants reported few life-goals changes with the exception of buying a ; different vehicle in the past year. Sizable numbers of participants reported that they try to avoid a variety of specific ; driving circumstances (e.g., driving at night, in rush hour traffic, in bad weather, and at night in bad weather). Many ; planned out their trips ahead of time or reduced overall travel by combining trips. A majority tried to avoid in-vehicle ; distractions with the exception of changing radio stations. Very few reported having made modifications to their ; vehicles during the past year to make driving easier. Differences by sex, recruitment population (general versus ; clinic), and age group are discussed.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/18007/dot_18007_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 218.91 KB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f06c4f58ffb3eeacc56b13f4557563e596159ec9c7212464aae19cc75e370831