News

Contrary to popular belief, the future of the automobile isn't green; it's grey.

With a glut of Canadian drivers entering their golden years over the next two decades, car manufacturers, urban planners and academics are scrambling for ways to compensate for seniors' accident-prone driving habits.

The high-tech fixes they have conjured up could alter the way we drive. Imagine car interiors loaded with jet-fighter technology such as night vision, fatigue-detection systems and dashboard readouts projected onto windshields.

In a study released last week, British researchers proposed a number of futuristic improvements to automobiles that could extend older motorists' time behind the wheel.

"Older people are living longer, playing longer and, they would hope, driving longer," said lead researcher Charles Musselwhite, senior lecturer in traffic and transport psychology at the University of the West of England. "The car is vital to their psychological well-being. If we can safely prolong their driving years, everyone benefits."

In two years, the leading edge of baby boomers - a generation whose upbringing paralleled the rise of the automobile in North American life - will hit retirement age. According to the Canadian Automobile Association, one in five Canadian drivers will be over 65 by 2026.

Older, but not necessarily better. Transport Canada reported that just 13 per cent of all traffic fatalities and injuries involve drivers over 65 in 2006.

But when you consider that older drivers log far fewer kilometres than other motorists, they still have more accidents than any other age group, according to the Canada Safety Council.

The reasons for that higher accident rate are fourfold, according to Dr. Musselwhite: Elderly drivers fatigue quickly, react slowly, see poorly and move slowly. His study suggests a number of technologies that would offset those traits.

To guard against the exhaustion factor, the researchers suggested adding fatigue-detection systems that would warn drivers when they were showing signs of sleepiness.

To compensate for seniors' longer reaction time, Mr. Musselwhite proposed adding sensors that would detect animals, joggers or children on the road ahead. Those electronic data would then be projected on the windshield rather than the dashboard, so drivers' eyes would never have to leave the road.

The survey subjects also responded favourably to an audio system that would sound a series of beeps or buzzes to alert a driver who was speeding or swerving outside his lane.

The researchers also suggested installing night-vision technology, an adaptive cruise-control system to prevent rear-enders, and devices that automatically adjust a car's pace to speed limits.

"[Seniors] don't have all the hearing and sensory capabilities of younger drivers," Dr. Musselwhite said. "So why not build a car that sends more feedback to the driver?"

Towns and cities could undergo a wholesale senior-proofing as well in coming years. The U.S. Federal Highway Administration has recommended all street signs be printed in Clearview font, a typeface that studies show is more legible to elderly drivers.

It has also suggested towns eliminate traffic features that could confuse seniors: roads intersecting at less than 75 degrees, intersections without left-turn lights and high-speed roads without merge lanes.

Merging old people and new technology has its drawbacks, of course. In driving simulator research at McMaster University, assistant professor Brenda Vrkljan found that no two seniors respond to in-car technology the same way.

"The younger seniors, the boomer-aged ones, they are much more comfortable with computers and digital cameras while those over 80 are not," she said.

Others believe that adding bells and whistles to cars will only add to the myriad distractions motorists already face.

"I'm pretty skeptical of packing a car full of technology in the name of older drivers," said Paul Cadiente, an instructor for CSS Driver Training, which runs refresher courses for older motorists worried about failing a test.

"The more gadgets you have, the more distractions you have. The simpler the vehicle, the safer it is for everybody."