Presenter

Carryl Baldwin, Ph.D. is the Carl and Rozina Cassat Distinguished Professor of Aging, Director of Regional Institute on Aging and the Human Factors Program Coordinator in the Department of Psychology at Wichita State University. Carryl has over 20 years of experience in the surface transportation and aviation research areas. Much of Carryl’s research involves using neuroergonomics metrics to better understand the operator-vehicle interface.

Carryl L. Baldwin
The wide variety of equipment with different capabilities and levels of technology (e.g., mixed equipage) poses a safety risk on our roads and in our skies. For example, automation complacency can be a safety hazard when operators over-rely on automation they do not understand and that is imperfect (Chu & Liu, 2023). Operators frequently do not understand the capabilities and limitations of a vehicle they operate regularly, much less the capabilities of vehicles they borrow, rent, or otherwise only drive occasionally.
Older adults, with age-related changes in vision, hearing, and mobility, potentially have the most to gain from advanced vehicle automation. However, they are the least likely age group to adopt and utilize advanced technology and they may have more challenges learning the capabilities and limitations of various types of equipment relative to their younger counterparts. Older adults report a preference for learning about new vehicle automation from objective sources (e.g., consumer reports, owner’s manual) and to be significantly less likely to rely on friends and family, or social media for this information (Greenwood & Baldwin, 2022). For example, lane departure warnings, though not consistent across vehicle types and manufacturers, are frequently provided primarily in the auditory format using a simple high-frequency tone that is likely to be difficult for older adults to hear. Educating older consumers in on which interfaces use multimodal and redundant signaling can enhance safety. Human Factors practitioners should ensure that the capabilities and limitations of the various types of equipment can be readily found in objective, fact-based sources and that the particularities of these systems are both designed for use by older adults and that these capabilities are adequately explained.



References

Chu, Y., & Liu, P. (2023). Automation complacency on the road. Ergonomics, 66(11), 1730-1749. doi:10.1080/00140139.2023.2210793

Greenwood, P. M., & Baldwin, C. L. (2022). Preferred Sources of Information, Knowledge, and Acceptance of Automated Vehicle Systems: Effects of Gender and Age. Front Psychol, 13, 806552-806552. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.806552