Accid Anal Prev. 2025 Jul 30;220:108172. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2025.108172. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Higher age is often seen as a key factor in the decline of driving skills. Moreover, there is some evidence that overestimation is related to both higher age and poorer on-road performance in older drivers. However, it is unknown how the extent of overestimation or underestimation affects on-road driving performance beyond age.
METHODS: 112 older drivers with and without mild cognitive impairment participated in this prospective on-road study. All participants underwent a standardized on-road driving assessment, neuropsychological testing, collection of driving-related data and different self-assessments. Statistical analyses included a hierarchical regression analysis to predict on-road driving performance by adding age and sex in the first step and the validity of self-assessment (VSA) in the second step. Correlation analyses focused on the association between VSA and cognitive and driving-related behavioral factors.
RESULTS: Results revealed that the combination of age and sex significantly predicted on-road driving skills (R2adjusted = 0.320). The inclusion of VSA led to a significant increase of explained variance in the criterion (R2adjusted = 0.639). Moreover, the degree of overestimation correlated with higher age, lower cognitive performance and more risky driving behavior.
DISCUSSION: Our results highlight the importance of the VSA for on-road driving performance beyond the effects of age and sex. Moreover, the VSA appears to decrease towards overestimation with increasing age and decreasing cognition and should thus be a focus of safety research.
PMID:40749272 | DOI:10.1016/j.aap.2025.108172
