Older motorist yielding to pedestrians: are older drivers inattentive and unwilling to stop?

A field experiment investigated factors expected to influence yielding by motorists to a pedestrian waiting to cross a city street. One-hundred and sixty motorists passing through a marked crosswalk were participants. In addition, data were gathered on 120 baseline motorists who passed through the test intersection when a pedestrian was not present. A comparison of the age composition of the experimental sample with the baseline sample showed that the youngest group of drivers, i.e., under twenty-six years, was significantly more represented in the experimental sample and was more likely to stop for the experimental pedestrian than were motorists in other age groups. Contrary to a prediction that older motorists over age sixty-five would be less attentive to a pedestrian and, therefore, less likely to stop, this oldest group of drivers was not underrepresented in the experimental sample; i.e., their likelihood of yielding matched their likelihood of driving through the intersection. Further analysis, however, revealed that motorists over sixty-five years of age were significantly more likely than younger motorists to stop for a pedestrian who was conspicuously dressed (bright, highly visible clothing) and who was moving to cross the street rather than patiently waiting. Implications of these findings are discussed in terms of difficulties that older drivers have in judging the speed of moving objects in a traffic environment.