To examine age differences in emergency braking response times and the benefit of collision warnings, 18 older (age = 74 yrs) and 29 young (age = 26 yrs) licensed drivers completed four taks in a automobile driving simulator. Participants attempted to brake as quickly as possible in response to braking of a car in front of them and to auditory and visual collision warning signals. Braking responses were made when the participant's car was stationary, traveling on an empty road, following at a comfortable distance, and following very closely the car in front of them. Participants also completed three laboratory reaction (RT) and movement (MT) time tasks to investigate age- and sex-related differences in the relationships of laboratory task performance and emergency braking responses. Results showed that the presence of collision warnings improved response times dramatically, especially for older drivers when following closer than comfortable. However, few correlations between the laboratory and driving tasks were above r=0.70 even when comparing time-based measures like RT and MT, and those that were depended on driver age, driver sex, and the task. Slowing with age was observed across tasks; however, when drivers were prepared and alert age differences were only modest. Thus, auditory and visual collision warning signals, e.g., in-vehicle collision avoidance warning systems, may especially benefit elder drivers and those who usually have slow responses compared with young drivers. Also, laboratory measures of simple RT and MT may not be predictive of automobile braking response speed when drivers are trying to avoid front-to-rear-end collisions because of individual differences in driving skill and the use of compensatory mechanisms.
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