How older people benefit from self-driving cars

Automated vehicles are practically on the doorstep: it is foreseeable that cars and other means of transport will become increasingly autonomous in the next few years. This will bring us all greater comfort and safety in road traffic. For older people in particular, this technological development promises major advantages that, according to experts, will give them greater mobility, autonomy, quality of life and participation in society. Partially and fully autonomous cars, for example, could enable people who are no longer able to drive a car themselves to be mobile. Or: public transportation could pick up passengers at any location - thus eliminating the arduous journey to a bus stop.

Technical aids can also help older people to look over their shoulders, which causes them pain. They can also adapt to the special needs of people with hearing or vision problems. Or they can drop passengers off directly at their homes and find a parking space themselves. Many other applications are conceivable - from robot trolleys that bring the groceries home to wheelchairs with emergency assistants and walkers with intelligent navigation systems.

But how do those affected see it? Do older people view these innovations as positively as many experts? Or are there factors that make the technological developments appear critical? Researchers at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology have taken a closer look at this in a study with the abbreviation A4F - which stands for "Requirements and Acceptance Analysis of Age-Related Automated Driving". On the one hand, they systematically analyzed the possible use cases, and on the other hand, they surveyed their acceptance among future users in workshops.

The results are differentiated. A central conclusion of the researchers around Peter Fröhlich from the Center for Technology Experience is: "Highly automated individual transport, in which the own car becomes the chauffeur and allows journeys with a high level of comfort and without the need for fitness to drive, shows the greatest attractiveness for older people". According to the study, the greatest value of automation for older persons lies in the relief from driving tasks: their own car becomes a chauffeur, and stress-free driving becomes possible. However, this only applies if it really is a relief. This means that the systems would have to be designed in such a way that their technical handling and communication with them would not cause any additional stress. For example, a touchscreen could become a burden for people with limited vision or fine motor skills.

One issue that needs special attention is maintaining autonomy. "When older people drive themselves, they feel alive," was a key statement at the workshops held. However, if technology takes everything away from people, active, self-determined action is impaired - many people then feel disempowered.

Nevertheless, optimism prevailed among the participants in the workshops: "I also hope that this [note: highly and fully automated individual transport] will exist, because it will also allow me to drive a car when I can no longer do so." Or, "I like fully automated driving best, understood as intercity driving, that's where the most automation is, where I have to do the least." Another typical statement is: "The scenario described here would theoretically be the ideal state - if everything worked!" 

Partially autonomous vehicles, on the other hand, are viewed somewhat more critically: Although these could also ease the burden on older people, they would have to be specially adapted to their needs and abilities, according to the researchers. Otherwise, they could quickly become too much for them. Participants at the workshop did not consider it sufficient relief if attention still has to be maintained. For example, when the car asks the driver to take over in a critical situation, many older people fear that they could get into trouble because of their slower reaction time. This makes it all the more important for systems to communicate adequately with people. Voice dialogues are one possibility - also in view of the fact that older people have a greater need for communication and involvement. But with hearing impairments, there are limits to what can be done.

In general, many older people fear that highly automated transport systems will not provide enough personal contact and care. With conventional transport services, for example, the driver ensures that people are picked up from their homes and accompanied to the waiting car. This is not the case, for example, with automatic microbuses that are ordered "on demand" to the place of residence. At least this was the case in the past, because as Peter Fröhlich explains, intensive work is currently being done on methods of addressing people personally.

A special topic is the encounter of people with robot cars. There is particularly great uncertainty among older people with regard to their future role as pedestrians in a traffic situation with automated vehicles. It is seen as a problem, for example, that new forms of interaction or new technologies and signaling must first be laboriously learned. However, a number of positive aspects were also noted - for example, the possibility that autonomous cars can take better account of pedestrians, for example by deliberately driving slowly through water puddles.

From the requirements and acceptance analyses, the AIT researchers deduce that the special needs of older people must be taken into account when designing transportation systems and, in particular, human-machine interfaces. For example, the degree of automation should be easily adjustable. Furthermore, older people must be enabled to learn: In order to remove uncertainties and fears, technologically low-threshold solutions should be introduced first, and special training and personalized training should be offered.

And finally, the affordability of the new technologies should not be forgotten against the backdrop of old-age poverty: "Existing discrimination and social hierarchies across the category of age can be further exacerbated if they are not taken into account," says Peter Fröhlich.

This project was funded by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) and commissioned by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) under the benefit program.