**5. Driving task, older adult drivers and health conditions impacting on driving**

### **5.1 Driving task**

The driving is not a task isolated from everyday life. It occurs for a purpose (to get to somewhere, to see the scenery, etc.) and is often undertaken in parallel with other activities (for example, talking, listening to the radio, singing, planning-ahead and eating).

The driving task involves a complex and rapidly repeating cycle that requires a level of skill and the ability to interact with both the vehicle and the external environment at the same time [5]. Information about the road environment is obtained via the visual and auditory senses. The information is operated on by many cognitive and behavioural processes including short and long-term memory and judgement,

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*Ethical Issues in the New Digital Era: The Case of Assisting Driving*

which leads to decisions being made about driving [5]. Decisions are put into effect via the musculoskeletal system, which acts on the steering, gears and brakes to alter the vehicle in relation to the road [5]. As reported by Fuller, the overall process is coordinated via a complex process involving behaviour, strategic and tactical abilities and personality [35]. As stated in Fuller's task capability model (2005), loss of control arises when the demand of the driving task exceeds the driver's capability [35].

It is estimated that by 2030, a quarter of all drivers will be older than 65 [36]. Further, by 2030, more than 90% of men over 70 will be driving [37]. Research indicates a general increase in both car access and licensing rates in the older population [38]. This increase is mainly attributable to significant increases in the

A number of studies have sought to categorise older adults in terms of their physical abilities [39] their economic, geographic/spatial and activity patterns [40], use of cars as a transportation mode [41], and lifestyles and associated requirements in relation to transport services [42]. The most nuanced categorisation is that of the GOAL project which proposes five distinctive profiles or segments of older people [43]. The segments take demographics, physical and mental health characteristics, social life, living environment, mobility-related aspects and transition points into account. The five profiles differ significantly according to age and level of activity/

• A young, severely impaired and immobile elderly ("Hole in the Heart").

• A quite mobile and still independent senior despite his/her old age ("Oldie but

As we age, we face decisions as to whether we should (1) continue, (2) limit, or (3) stop driving. Age related declines in the abilities of older adults can be treated as obstacles/barriers to safe driving performance. These age-related changes yield specific challenges for older adults. As reported by Langford and Koppel [44], this

• Psychomotor functions: joint flexibility, muscle strength, manual dexterity

• Sensory abilities: visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, sensitivity to light, dark adaptation, visual field, space perception, motion perception, hearing.

• Cognitive abilities: fluid intelligence, speed of processing, working memory, problem solving, spatial cognition and executive functions like inhibition,

flexibility and selective and divided attention.

• A very old, highly impaired and immobile segment ("Care-Full")

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.88371*

**5.2 Older adult drivers**

number of older female drivers [38].

mobility and health [43]. They include.

a Goldie")

includes:

**5.3 Older adult driving challenges**

and coordination.

• A younger and more active profile ("Fit as a Fiddle")

• A young, fit and active elderly ("Happily Connected")

which leads to decisions being made about driving [5]. Decisions are put into effect via the musculoskeletal system, which acts on the steering, gears and brakes to alter the vehicle in relation to the road [5]. As reported by Fuller, the overall process is coordinated via a complex process involving behaviour, strategic and tactical abilities and personality [35]. As stated in Fuller's task capability model (2005), loss of control arises when the demand of the driving task exceeds the driver's capability [35].
