Conference Proceeding

The Effect of Age and Gender on Visual Search During Lane Changing

Authors: , , , , , ,

Abstract

This study examined visual search behavior relative to three regions of interest (ROI) (side mirror, rear view mirror, and blind spot) for self-initiated lane changes in a sample of 108 drivers under actual highway conditions. As has been observed previously, few drivers scan all three of the ROI prior to executing a lane change, with turning around to inspect the blind spot being the lowest frequency behavior. Age, gender and direction (left or right lane change) were found to influence visual search behaviors. For lane changes to the right, blind spot checking occurred less than 32% of the time in females and less than 15% of the time in males. This low level of blind spot checking to the right was consistent across younger and older age groupings. Interestingly, the most notable age discrepancy was in checking the left blind spot. Younger drivers checked their left blind spot 53.3% of the time compared to a rate of 23.9% for drivers in their 60s. Implications of these findings for both driver remediation programs and the increasing availability of blind spot identification systems are considered.

Keywords:

How to Cite: Lavallière, M. , Reimer, B. , Mehler, B. , D’Ambrosio, L. , Wang, Y. , Teasdale, N. & Coughlin, J. (2011) “The Effect of Age and Gender on Visual Search During Lane Changing”, Driving Assessment Conference. 6(2011). doi: https://doi.org/10.17077/drivingassessment.1455