The Effects of Age and Distraction on Reaction Time in a Driving Simulator

Owens, Justin M; Lehman, Richard · 2001 · Crossref

DOI: 10.17077/drivingassessment.1026

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Summary

This study investigates how driver age and specific types of distraction—cognitive versus visual—affect reaction times to unexpected road hazards. Motivated by the increasing integration of electronic devices like mobile phones and navigation systems into vehicles, the researchers aimed to quantify the safety risks associated with divided attention. The study specifically examined whether cognitive loads (verbal tasks) and visual loads (dialing a phone) degrade driving performance differently, and how these effects interact with driver age and the location of hazards. The experiment involved 28 participants, divided equally into young (mean age 20.1) and middle-aged (mean age 46.4) groups, with equal gender representation. Participants operated a driving simulator using *Gran Turismo II*, projected onto a large screen, while performing one of four tasks: a control condition (driving only), answering easy verbal questions, answering difficult verbal questions, or dialing a seven-digit number on a cellular telephone. During these tasks, visual stimuli simulating brake lights or a pedestrian appeared unpredictably either in the center of the visual field or at the side of the road. Reaction time was measured as the interval between stimulus onset and brake pedal depression. The results indicated a significant main effect of age, with older drivers exhibiting slower overall reaction times. However, distraction type played a critical role. There were no significant differences in reaction times between the control condition and either the easy or difficult verbal question conditions, suggesting that cognitive load alone did not significantly impair performance in this context. In contrast, the visual distraction of dialing a telephone significantly increased reaction times for both age groups. This effect was most pronounced when stimuli appeared at the side of the road. A significant three-way interaction revealed that middle-aged drivers had substantially longer reaction times to roadside hazards while dialing compared to all other conditions and age groups. Additionally, middle-aged participants responded more slowly to pedestrian-shaped stimuli than young participants, though no such difference existed for brake light stimuli. The findings highlight that visual distraction, particularly dialing a phone, poses a greater risk to driving safety than cognitive distraction from conversation. The combination of advancing age, visual task load, and peripheral hazard location creates a compounding effect on reaction time. The authors note that the nearly one-second difference in mean reaction times between young and middle-aged drivers in the worst-case scenario could result in a vehicle traveling an additional 65 feet before braking. These results underscore the specific dangers of visual-manual distractions and suggest that the ability to divide attention degrades with age, particularly when visual resources are diverted from the road.

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Topics

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• visual
• temporal
• manual
• external distraction
• visual manual
• auditory

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: behavioral performance data
• Methodological Resource: tool software