How This Technology Can Help Older Drivers

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A third of crashes that cause injuries to seniors behind the wheel could be eliminated thanks to advanced technology at intersections, says a new report.

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Road Safety found that: Collision avoidance features, improved headlights, and safety potential of V2V-enhanced technology for older driversshowing that technology can help older drivers navigate intersections more safely.

“Left-turn assist and other future intersection assist technologies could offer significant safety benefits to drivers in their 70s and 80s,” said Aimee Cox, an IIHS researcher and author of the paper. I’m here.

As more drivers live longer and stay behind the wheel as they age, so does the risk of crashes. According to the IIHS, drivers in their 70s and his 80s are at higher risk of certain types of crashes. They are also more prone to serious injury and death than younger people. It was emphasized that left-turn crashes become more common due to age-related declines in visual acuity and cognitive abilities.

IIHS researchers said they used U.S. federal crash data from 2016 to 2019 to compare the most common types of crashes for older and middle-aged drivers. We then estimated that the number of police-reported crashes, driver injuries, and driver fatalities could be addressed by his five existing features and two of his features that are not yet available. Unpopular locations, speeds and intended paths.

Common safety features include automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning, bright headlights, and blind spot detection.

“These results should spur efforts to deploy these technologies to consumers as soon as possible.”

A newer and lesser-known feature is the intersection assist feature. This includes Left Turn Assist, which uses cameras and other sensors to detect oncoming traffic when the driver signals a left turn. IIHS says vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) connectivity, still in development, will lead to similar, more sophisticated capabilities.

For example, V2V links all vehicles on the road. They can communicate position, velocity, and path of travel. A turning vehicle can see the speed and trajectory of an oncoming vehicle, even when obscured by hills or obstacles.

According to the IIHS, these features can be of great benefit. About three-fifths of crashes involving both age groups could be addressed by at least one of the safety measures considered in this study.

For intersection assist features, a study found that they could be associated with 32% of older driver crashes, 38% of older driver injuries, and 31% of older driver fatalities. The study also noted that middle-aged drivers may also benefit, as these were associated with more than one-fifth of all middle-aged accidents.

“These results should spur efforts to deploy these technologies to consumers as soon as possible,” said Jessica Cicchino, vice president of research at IIHS.