Better drivers with impaired hearing – forskning.se

– The differences that I have seen in my studies clearly point that drivers with hearing loss is generally more conservative than drivers with normal hearing, says Birgitta Thorslund behind the dissertation.

The results of her studies show that drivers with impaired hearing in no way represent a higher risk group in traffic than other drivers. In that way the thesis concluded that there is no need to adjust the hearing requirements in terms of driving license. Something that might otherwise not have been entirely unreasonable to imagine from the fact that the number of older drivers is increasing rapidly both in Sweden and Europe. Research shows that about 20 to 30 percent of drivers who are over age 70 have hearing loss.

Studies in both simulation and real traffic
Results Birgitta Thor’s thesis is based on three parts. A questionnaire study, a study in the driving simulator and a study in real traffic. In all studies, a group of drivers with normal hearing and compared with a group of drivers with impaired hearing.

The simulator study showed that drivers with hearing loss slows down more than normal hearing when traffic situations becomes complex and the demands on the driver increases.

Hearing loss brings more attention to the environment
In the study in real traffic used, among other things, a device that measures the eye movements. Here it was found that drivers with hearing loss often look back and to the side of the road than drivers with normal hearing do.

Bridget Thor Lund doctoral thesis Effects of Hearing Loss on Traffic Safety and mobility are written at the Institute for Disability Research. The Institute is a collaboration between the Universities of Linköping and Örebro and Jönköping University. Bridget Thorslund working at VTI and conducts research primarily in the area of ​​traffic medicine.

The thesis has been mainly financed by VTI but funds also come from the national competence center ViP – Virtual prototyping and Assessment village simulation, vehicle and traffic safety center SAFER at Chalmers and the Foundation Promobilia. The association Östgötaleden Gille also rewarded Bridget Thor’s research with a scholarship.