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Assessment of Driving With the Global Positioning System and Video Technology in Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Drivers

^a Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

Michelle M. Porter, Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies, 207 Max Bell Centre, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2N2 E-mail: portermm{at}ms.umanitoba.ca.

Background. Driving is a complex task that is difficult to fully characterize objectively or in a blinded fashion. The main objective of this study was to determine the usefulness of the global positioning system (GPS) and video technology for examining age-related differences in driving. In this study, GPS was used to determine the position, velocity, and acceleration of a vehicle, driven by subjects of different ages, while video footage was used to provide a detailed context of the drive.

Methods. Twenty-four subjects who were young (20 to 29; n = 6), middle-aged (30 to 64; n = 8), and older (65 years of age and older; n = 10) drove their own vehicles on a 30-km route of various types of roads, with a GPS receiver and video camera recording.

Results. The combination of GPS and video data allowed for the determination of many age-related driving differences. The young subjects drove faster, had a shorter deceleration distance and time, as well as a shorter acceleration time. Young subjects also had a substantially higher number of infraction demerit points primarily due to speeding, not stopping fully at stop signs, and following too closely. Although the older subjects had a smaller number of demerit points assessed, they tended to make different types of errors than the young subjects, including not stopping at all at a stop sign and turning errors.

Conclusions. GPS and video technology offer new opportunities for the assessment of age-related driving performance.

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