Assessing predictors of crash risk in older adults

Older adult drivers are at increased risk of road fatalities. Previous research has identified that performance on the Useful Field of View task predicts crash risk. Our recent work has revealed two fundamental cognitive processes that underscore performance on this task: visual search (the efficiency of shifting attention amongst multiple objects to find a target), and working-memory capacity (the ability to juggle multiple tasks at once). Here we will test whether pure measures of these cognitive processes offer a better understanding of older adult driver safety, which could identify new processes to target with training programs to improve road safety.