Enhancing the Safety of Georgia’s Senior Drivers and Pedestrians by Analyzing Crash Characteristics and Behavior

Details

• Creators:
  Tsai, Yichang (James) ; Luo, Shiwei ; Cabe, Reid
• Corporate Creators:
  Georgia Institute of Technology
• Corporate Contributors:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Aged Drivers Aged Pedestrians Behavior Countermeasures Crash Analysis Crash Data Data Collection Eye-tracking Data Analysis FHWA Older Drivers And Pedestrians Special Rule Highway Safety Intersections Literature Reviews Pedestrians Roads Roadway Safety Survey Senior Road Safety Traffic Surveys

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-GA-26-2411
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Georgia
• Edition:
  Final; January 2025 – July 2026
• Corporate Publisher:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research
• Abstract:
  Georgia has triggered the Federal Highway Administration's Older Drivers and Pedestrians Special Rule for two consecutive comparison periods. As a result, the State is required to incorporate strategies addressing senior road user safety into its Strategic Highway Safety Plan. This report responds directly to this requirement. The objective of this study was to improve the safety of Georgia’s senior drivers and pedestrians by developing a comprehensive understanding of the challenges they face on the roadway and translating those findings into targeted countermeasure recommendations. To achieve this, the study first conducted a comprehensive literature review and then utilized three data sources for in-depth data analysis: a statewide crash data analysis, a preliminary roadway safety survey of Georgia residents, and a preliminary eye-tracking based driving behavior analysis. The synthesized findings identify four priority areas for action based on these analyses. For senior drivers: 1) left-turn angle crashes at intersections driven by reaction-time failures are the most critical crash pattern. Among all fatal and severe angle crashes in Georgia, over 40 % are senior-related, the highest involvement of any crash type, and reaction time accounts for 79 % of older driver left-turn crashes. The eye-tracking study showed that seniors exhibit slower saccades, consistent with the reaction-time deficit observed in the crash data. 2) nighttime driving conditions present greater challenges for older drivers, with more than 50 % of older adults rating their visual acuity at night as fair or poor, and the eye-tracking study showing consistently higher fixation duration (high attention) at night across all curves studied. For senior pedestrians: 1) Wide signalized crossings present challenges for seniors, with 44 % citing insufficient crossing time as a concern at crosswalks; 2) Driver failure to yield represents a key safety concern, with over 65 % of older adults reporting this concern at crosswalks. The report further translates these findings into a set of countermeasures for intersection left-turn movements, nighttime visibility, wide pedestrian crossings, and driver yielding behavior.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  PI#0020754
• Collection(s):
  FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aerospace
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0e3b4d0123bd55e5d53dd15e7c6b5a29b0ca8904b5990d85f78cc21c640cfbd64a7da87287399f4ceb8702e2685f850a05fba8aefdc7fecc9f8807bbc5388703
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/92477/dot_92477_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.51 MB ]