Title: Longer-term exposure to an intersection assistant: effects of ADAS use on intersection performance of drivers diagnosed with Parkinson's disease

Authors: Mandy Dotzauer; Dick De Waard; Simone R. Caljouw; Wiebo H. Brouwer

Addresses: Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Unit, University Medical Centre Groningen (UMCG), Hanzeplein 1, AB 60, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands ' Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands ' Centre for Human Movement Sciences, University of Groningen, University Medical Centre Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, room 329 (3215), 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands ' Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Unit, University Medical Centre Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, AB 60, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands; Department of Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands

Abstract: An advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) supported drivers at intersections providing information about gap sizes to cross. Effects were studied in a longer-term driving simulator study including 12 repeated measures spread out over one month. Nine healthy older drivers (65 to 82 years) making up one group and nine older drivers diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) (68 and 82 years) making up a second group participated in the study. Groups completed ten sessions with ADAS and two sessions without ADAS. Results show over the longer-term period a decrease in time needed to pass the intersection and the number of stops before crossing an intersection, so they became less hesitant and more confident over time. It was also observed that healthy older drivers had a smaller minimum time-to-collision (TTC) value to crossing traffic and crossed more often with a critical TTC to crossing traffic than drivers diagnosed with PD, a reflection of smaller safety margins accepted. At the same time, they caused fewer crashes than drivers diagnosed with PD. Nevertheless, ADAS use might have prevented crashes from occurring as was found in previous studies.

Keywords: intersection assistance; older drivers; Parkinson's disease; behavioural adaptation; safety margins; advanced driver assistance system; ADAS; driving simulator; simulation; driver support; road intersections; gap sizes; crossing intersections; minimum TTC; time-to-collision; vehicle crashes; vehicle accidents.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHFE.2013.059376

International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics, 2013 Vol.2 No.4, pp.223 - 245

Received: 09 Dec 2013
Accepted: 09 Dec 2013
Published online: 30 Apr 2014 *

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