Svetina Matija
a Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana , Ljubljana , Slovenia.
Traffic Inj Prev. 2016 Nov 16;17(8):810-4. doi: 10.1080/15389588.2016.1157590. Epub 2016 Mar 15.
Many studies addressing age-related changes in driving performance focus on comparing young vs. older drivers, which might lead to the biased conclusion that driving performance decreases only after the age of 65. The main aim of the study was to show that changes in driving performance are progressive throughout the adult years.
A sample of 351 drivers aged 20 to 80 was assessed for their reaction times while driving between road cones. The drivers were exposed to 2 conditions varying according to task complexity. In single task conditions, the drivers performed a full stopping maneuver at a given signal; in dual task conditions, the drivers were distracted before the signal for stopping maneuver was triggered. Reaction times were compared across conditions and age groups.
The results showed that both reaction times and variability of driving performance increased progressively between the ages of 20 and 80. The increase in both reaction times and variability was greater in the complex task condition. The high-performing quarter of elderly drivers performed equally well or better than younger drivers did.
The data clearly supported the claim that driving performance changes steadily across age groups: both mean reaction time and interindividual variability progressively increase with age. In addition, a significant group of older drivers was identified who did not show the expected age-related decrease in performance. The findings have important implications, suggesting that in relation to driving, aging is a progressive phenomenon and may lead to variety of driving performance; age-related studies of driving performance should put more emphasis on investigating changes across the whole driver age range rather than only comparing younger and older drivers.
许多针对驾驶性能与年龄相关变化的研究都聚焦于比较年轻驾驶员和年长驾驶员，这可能会导致得出有偏差的结论，即驾驶性能仅在65岁之后才会下降。本研究的主要目的是表明驾驶性能的变化在整个成年期都是渐进的。
对351名年龄在20至80岁之间的驾驶员进行抽样，评估他们在路锥之间驾驶时的反应时间。驾驶员被置于根据任务复杂性而变化的两种条件下。在单任务条件下，驾驶员在给定信号时进行完全停车操作；在双任务条件下，驾驶员在触发停车操作信号之前会受到干扰。对不同条件和年龄组的反应时间进行了比较。
结果表明，在20岁至80岁之间，反应时间和驾驶性能的变异性均逐渐增加。在复杂任务条件下，反应时间和变异性的增加幅度更大。老年驾驶员中表现最佳的四分之一与年轻驾驶员表现相当或更好。
数据明确支持了驾驶性能在不同年龄组中稳步变化的说法：平均反应时间和个体间变异性均随着年龄的增长而逐渐增加。此外，还识别出了相当一部分老年驾驶员，他们并未表现出预期的与年龄相关的性能下降。这些发现具有重要意义，表明就驾驶而言，衰老过程是渐进的，可能导致多种驾驶性能表现；与驾驶性能相关的年龄研究应更加强调调查整个驾驶员年龄范围内的变化，而不仅仅是比较年轻驾驶员和年长驾驶员。
