An interdisciplinary team led by Professor Candida Castro of the University of Granada's Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Optics (led by Professor Sonia Ortiz-Peregrina), has developed an innovative method to evaluate the impact of aging on the ability to anticipate hazards while driving.
The study, recently published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, introduces the Hazard Prediction-Orienting Test. This test, developed and validated by CIMCYC researchers at the UGR, presents naturalistic driving videos and asks participants to complete a hazard prediction task. The goal is to analyze how older adults perceive and respond to dangerous situations on the road.
The results of this work (Salazar-Frías et al., 2025) indicate that drivers over 65 years old experience greater difficulty in anticipating traffic hazards, particularly in complex situations. Specifically, the performance of individuals over 65 drops notably when hazards appear and require dividing attention between different points in the traffic scene. Their performance was found to be as low as that of inexperienced participants measured in previous studies (Muela et al., 2021).
The research was made possible by the collaboration between the Departments of Experimental Psychology and Optics, which allowed for the integration of neuropsychological measures (such as the Trail Making Test and the UFOV) with functional vision evaluations, including visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and motion sensitivity. Study participants included members of the university community and students from the University of Granada’s Permanent Open Education Program (APFA), a UGR initiative catering to the educational needs of adults over 50.
According to the authors, this new approach can help identify risks associated with driving in older age more accurately and serve as a tool for future preventive interventions or clinical assessments. In a context of an aging population and an increase in older drivers, these findings are especially relevant for road safety policies and the design of fairer, more effective evaluation systems.
Key Findings
- Drivers over 65 anticipate road hazards less effectively than younger adult drivers (ages 55–64) and middle-aged drivers (ages 35–54).
- Older drivers show greater difficulty dividing their attention when two hazards are present.
- The performance of older drivers is particularly affected when the potential and developing hazards appear at locations far apart from each other.
- Measures from the Hazard Prediction-Orienting Test correlate with the Useful Field of View (UFOV), the Trail Making Test (TMT), and contrast sensitivity.
- The effect of attentional capture is replicated in complex driving situations involving older drivers.
Reference
Salazar-Frias, D., Ortiz-Peregrina, S., Martino, F., Castro-Torres, J.J., Clavijo-Ruiz, J. & Castro, C. (2025). Do older drivers (65+) exhibit significant impairments in hazard prediction and attentional processes? Accident Analysis and Prevention, 108182. DOI: 10.1016/j.aap.2025.108182
Contact
Candida Castro Ramírez