Development and evaluation of a Driving Observation Schedule (DOS) to study everyday driving performance of older drivers

Koppel, Sjaan; Charlton, Judith L.; Muir, Carlyn · 2013 · Accident Analysis & Prevention

DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2013.03.027

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Summary

This paper addresses the need for accurate, objective assessments of older drivers’ everyday performance to inform fitness-to-drive policies and graduated de-licensing processes. Existing methods often rely on self-report data, which is prone to recall bias, or standardized tests using unfamiliar vehicles that may induce anxiety and fail to capture naturalistic driving behaviors. To overcome these limitations, the authors developed the Driving Observation Schedule (DOS), an on-road protocol designed to monitor individual driving behavior in drivers’ own vehicles on familiar routes. The study aimed to evaluate the DOS’s inter-rater reliability, feasibility, acceptability, and ecological validity within the context of the Candrive/Ozcandrive longitudinal cohort study. The study involved 33 drivers aged 75 and older who drove a self-selected route starting and ending at their homes, visiting up to four local destinations within a 25–30 minute window. Two observers—a specialist occupational therapy driving assessor and a trained observer—scored driving behaviors across six categories: observation of the road environment, signaling, speed regulation, gap acceptance, road-rule compliance, and vehicle/lane positioning. An in-vehicle recording device (ICRD) collected objective data on speed, position, and distance for both the DOS trips and approximately four months of everyday driving to assess ecological validity. Inter-rater reliability was analyzed using intra-class correlations and method error statistics, while participant acceptability was measured via a post-drive survey. Results indicated that the DOS was feasible, with 87.9% of drivers completing the trip within the target time frame, averaging 31 minutes and 13.8 kilometers. Inter-rater reliability was strong, with an intra-class correlation of 0.91 and low method error, suggesting consistent scoring between expert and trained observers. Participants reported high acceptability, with 82% feeling “completely at ease” and 97% reporting high familiarity with the route. Ecological validity analysis revealed that DOS trips utilized similar roadways and speed limits (primarily 50–60 km/hr) as everyday driving. Although DOS trips were longer in total duration than typical daily trips, the driving conditions and performance metrics were comparable, with only minor differences in speed compliance and travel speeds attributable to the residential nature of the selected routes. The study concludes that the DOS is a reliable, acceptable, and ecologically valid tool for quantifying older drivers’ performance in naturalistic settings. Its design mitigates the anxiety associated with unfamiliar test vehicles and provides data relevant to real-world driving contexts. The authors suggest the DOS holds promise for monitoring changes in driving performance over time and for supporting the development of local area or restricted licenses for older drivers. Future research with larger samples and enhanced data collection methods, such as covert video monitoring, is recommended to further validate the protocol and refine error weighting schemes.

Key finding

The Driving Observation Schedule demonstrated high inter-rater reliability, strong acceptability among older drivers, and ecological validity comparable to their everyday driving patterns.

Methodology

on_road

Sample size: 33

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• exposure measurement
• fitness to drive assessment
• older drivers
• dbq psychometrics
• mci dementia driving
• older driver retraining

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence
• Methodological Resource: validation psychometrics, dataset resource