A New Approach to Assessing Self-Regulation by Older Drivers: Development and Testing of a Questionnaire Instrument
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Summary
This study addresses the need for a standardized, comprehensive method to assess self-regulation among older drivers. As aging often leads to declines in visual, cognitive, and psychomotor abilities, self-regulation—adjusting driving patterns to avoid unsafe situations—is a critical strategy for maintaining safety and mobility. However, existing research suffers from inconsistent measurement tools and varying definitions, making it difficult to determine the true extent of self-regulatory practices. The authors aimed to develop and pilot-test a computer-based questionnaire that conceptualizes self-regulation across four levels of decision-making: operational, tactical, strategic, and life-goals. This framework allows for the assessment of both reduced driving exposure and modifications to driving nature, such as vehicle choice or trip planning. The research was conducted in two phases. First, the questionnaire was developed through literature reviews, expert consultations, and analysis of naturalistic driving data. Second, the instrument was pilot-tested with 137 drivers aged 70 and older. The sample included 105 normally functioning adults recruited from the general population and 32 individuals with clinically determined impairments in vision, cognition, or psychomotor ability recruited from university clinics. Participants completed the computer-based survey in person, providing feedback on usability and reporting on their driving habits, health, and self-regulatory behaviors. Data were analyzed using SAS software, employing univariate summaries and bivariate tests (Chi-Square, Fisher’s Exact, Wilcoxon Signed Rank) to examine differences by sex, recruitment source, and age group. Results indicated high acceptability of the instrument; 98.5% of participants found questions easy to read, 89.1% found them easy to understand, and 91.2% were satisfied with the computer format, despite low self-reported computer experience. Regarding driving behavior, participants drove an average of 5.6 days per week and 90 miles per week, with men driving significantly more than women. Self-regulation was prevalent in specific contexts: sizable numbers of participants avoided driving at night, in rush hour traffic, or in bad weather, and many planned trips ahead or combined errands to reduce travel. However, few participants reported making vehicle modifications or changing life-goals, such as purchasing a different vehicle. Participants from the general population rated their driving abilities higher than those from the clinic population, particularly regarding night vision and information processing. The study concludes that the developed questionnaire is a viable, user-friendly tool for comprehensively assessing older driver self-regulation. The findings highlight that while older drivers actively manage risk by avoiding specific driving circumstances, they rarely alter broader lifestyle factors or vehicle choices. The instrument provides a uniform approach for jurisdictions and researchers to study self-regulation, facilitating future large-scale longitudinal studies. By capturing both tactical avoidance and strategic life-goal decisions, this tool offers a more nuanced understanding of how older adults compensate for functional declines, which is essential for developing interventions that support safe mobility and independence.
Key finding
Older drivers frequently engage in tactical self-regulation by avoiding specific driving circumstances like night driving and bad weather, yet report few changes to life-goals or vehicle modifications.
Methodology
lab_experiment
Sample size: 137
Provenance
The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).
| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | rosap | — | — | 2 | 2026-05-23 |
| archive | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
| clean | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| chunk | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-01 |
| embed | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-02 |
| enrich | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-05-23 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 3 | 2026-06-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 19 | 2026-06-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.
Topics
Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.
- older drivers
- older driver retraining
- dbq psychometrics
- decision making risk perception
- mci dementia driving
- sex gender
Information type
What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).
- Empirical Findings: observational prevalence, self report data
- Methodological Resource: validation psychometrics