Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.

Although unintended acceleration caused by pedal misapplication is a cause of traffic accidents, fatal accidents may be avoided if drivers realize their error immediately and quickly correct how they are stepping on the pedal. This correction behavior may decline with age because the rate of fatal a...

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Main Authors: Kunihiro Hasegawa, Motohiro Kimura, Yuji Takeda
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236053&type=printable
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author Kunihiro Hasegawa
Motohiro Kimura
Yuji Takeda
author_facet Kunihiro Hasegawa
Motohiro Kimura
Yuji Takeda
author_sort Kunihiro Hasegawa
collection DOAJ
description Although unintended acceleration caused by pedal misapplication is a cause of traffic accidents, fatal accidents may be avoided if drivers realize their error immediately and quickly correct how they are stepping on the pedal. This correction behavior may decline with age because the rate of fatal accidents is fairly higher for older adults than for younger adults. To investigate this possibility, the present study recruited older adults (n = 40, age range = 67-81 years) as well as younger adults (n = 40, age range = 18-32 years). In this study, they performed a pedal stepping task during which they were required to stop the simulated vehicle as quickly as possible when a red signal was presented on a monitor. During most trials, the vehicle decelerated/stopped when the brake pedal was applied in a normal manner. In a few trials, however, stepping on the brake pedal resulted in sudden acceleration of the vehicle (i.e., the occurrence of the unintended acceleration); when this occurred, the participants had to release the pedal and re-step on another pedal to decelerate/stop the vehicle as quickly as possible. We focused on the age-related differences of the reaction latencies during three time periods: from the appearance of the red signal on the screen until stepping on the pedal (Period 1), from stepping on the pedal until the release of the pedal (Period 2), and from the release of the pedal until re-stepping of another pedal (Period 3). The results showed that there was no age-related difference in the latency of Period 1, p = .771, whereas those of Periods 2 and 3 were longer for the older adults (ps < .001). The results suggest that there are age-related differences in error detection and correction abilities under unintended situations with foot pedal manipulation.
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spelling doaj-art-95686d5506c54e9a8cfbf1bdc0de1d7c2025-08-20T02:10:59ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01157e023605310.1371/journal.pone.0236053Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.Kunihiro HasegawaMotohiro KimuraYuji TakedaAlthough unintended acceleration caused by pedal misapplication is a cause of traffic accidents, fatal accidents may be avoided if drivers realize their error immediately and quickly correct how they are stepping on the pedal. This correction behavior may decline with age because the rate of fatal accidents is fairly higher for older adults than for younger adults. To investigate this possibility, the present study recruited older adults (n = 40, age range = 67-81 years) as well as younger adults (n = 40, age range = 18-32 years). In this study, they performed a pedal stepping task during which they were required to stop the simulated vehicle as quickly as possible when a red signal was presented on a monitor. During most trials, the vehicle decelerated/stopped when the brake pedal was applied in a normal manner. In a few trials, however, stepping on the brake pedal resulted in sudden acceleration of the vehicle (i.e., the occurrence of the unintended acceleration); when this occurred, the participants had to release the pedal and re-step on another pedal to decelerate/stop the vehicle as quickly as possible. We focused on the age-related differences of the reaction latencies during three time periods: from the appearance of the red signal on the screen until stepping on the pedal (Period 1), from stepping on the pedal until the release of the pedal (Period 2), and from the release of the pedal until re-stepping of another pedal (Period 3). The results showed that there was no age-related difference in the latency of Period 1, p = .771, whereas those of Periods 2 and 3 were longer for the older adults (ps < .001). The results suggest that there are age-related differences in error detection and correction abilities under unintended situations with foot pedal manipulation.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236053&type=printable
spellingShingle Kunihiro Hasegawa
Motohiro Kimura
Yuji Takeda
Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
PLoS ONE
title Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
title_full Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
title_fullStr Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
title_full_unstemmed Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
title_short Age-related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration.
title_sort age related differences in correction behavior for unintended acceleration
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0236053&type=printable
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AT motohirokimura agerelateddifferencesincorrectionbehaviorforunintendedacceleration
AT yujitakeda agerelateddifferencesincorrectionbehaviorforunintendedacceleration