Abstract
We investigated the characteristics of unsafe driving behaviors of community-dwelling older adults
based on on-road assessments. Firstly, we developed detailed items of unsafe driving behaviors based on description data of “driving behavior diagnosis records” of approximately 9000 participants in a “training course for seniors.” We classified unsafe driving behaviors into several patterns through factor analysis and cluster analysis. Next, we analyzed correlations between seven clusters of unsafe driving behaviors and cognitive function test results, age, the frequency of driving, vehicles that participants used, and selection of training courses (AT or MT). The results indicated that older adults’ unsafe driving behaviors were not uniform according to age or the decline in cognitive functions. The empirical results of this study indicated that the following factors mutually interacted in forming and expressing unsafe driving behaviors: (a) normal aging, (b) lack of accurate driving knowledge, (c) cognitive and operational traits depending based on the regularly used motor vehicle, (d) difficulty in perceptual-motor coordination caused by the lower driving frequency, and (e) decline in memory and judgment assessed by cognitive function tests.
