The pace of change in automotive technology today is comparable to the time about a hundred years ago when cars began to move from the fringes of transportation and into the everyday lives of normal people.
The automobile has changed the world. It has given rise to greater freedoms, created jobs and wealth, and altered the physical landscape through roads, service stations, and dealerships.
The proliferation of cars has brought us incredible convenience. But it’s also led to traffic jams, polluted freeways, and high-speed accidents. Cars have also played a major role in speeding up climate change.
Transformations of automobiles
The design of automobiles is changing dramatically. Electric vehicles are replacing internal combustion engines powered by gasoline. They emit less noise and pollution. Sensors and cameras can make cars safer by helping drivers avoid collisions.
Autonomous cars are not too far away either. But until then, car design must consider the changing needs and wants of drivers.
The ability to drive without a driver is both a benefit and a danger for all drivers. This includes older and more experienced drivers. It is a great opportunity to encourage safe and independent driving, which will help seniors live longer.
A more autonomous vehicle could lull the driver into a false sense of security and make it difficult to determine when a driver with a health condition should not be on the road. In fact, it can be more difficult to drive with the addition of technology.
McMaster University conducted a study on older drivers to examine how they view car technology. (McMaster University), Author provided (no re-use).
Safer for older drivers
In my research, I work with older drivers, government agencies, and automakers to make sure cars are safe.
In 2017, I addressed Canada’s Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications on these issues. We continue to conduct research with older drivers, as well as other organizations such as Transport Canada or the Canadian Automobile Association.
My research and teaching aim to make everyone, including seniors, understand that older drivers have a variety of abilities, both physical and cognitive and that they are statistically less likely to be involved in crashes than their counterparts of middle age. In other words, age does not determine whether a driver is safe or dangerous.
Health decline
It is important to plan for health-related changes and declines, which can occur rapidly and are not always readily obvious, particularly in this group.
My colleagues and I, for example, developed the Driving and Dementia Roadmap in collaboration with a group of people who have lived with dementia. This free online resource is designed to help caregivers, health professionals, and people living with dementia be more safe on the road.
It is important that as cars evolve, manufacturers, engineers, and regulators take into account how older drivers will interact with and respond to new technologies. In keeping with universal design, new technologies must be designed with older drivers as well as everyone else in mind.
This includes making sure all drivers can get in and out of the car, find their way on the road, and control all of the vehicle’s systems.
Students at McMaster University work with older drivers in order to create advanced vehicle designs that are adapted to their diverse cognitive, visual, and motor abilities. (B. Vrkljan), provided by the author (no re-use).
Design that is informed and transformed
The project is a collaboration between my research team and our engineering colleagues at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre. We are asking older drivers to volunteer their time and share driving experiences. As part of the North American EcoCar EV challenge, the goal is to provide design input for a Cadillac LYRIQ electric SUV.
This contest’s mandate is to create vehicles that are both efficient and easy on the environment, as well as to maximize their safety and accessibility to drivers of all ages and abilities.
Modern cars with all the safety features you could want and that run on electricity will only be successful if they are designed for their intended users. The vehicles of the future can be clean, safe, and accessible by involving the older drivers who are the most experienced on the roads today.
