Vehicle Design Considerations For Older Drivers

During the next half century, the older driver population will increase dramatically as the Baby Boom becomes a Senior Boom of similar proportions. Therefore a proper understanding and awareness of the changes that take place in our vision and cognition through aging, can be useful to engineers designing automobile systems for a more mature market. How these changes brought about by aging affect our interaction with such vehicle systems as controls and displays, mirrors, head-lighting, seating, and entry and exit is the subject of the following discussion. Recommendations also are made, based upon the current literature, for modifying these vehicle systems to meet the needs of older drivers.