Designing for the Life Span Segment 3
Designing for the Life Span Segment 3 
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[D]
The view through the windshield of a car, over a glare reflecting hood and into an ever changing landscape of light, vehicles and objects. 50% opacity of the cornea and changes in light adaptation and accommodation make negotiation and navigation of this environment difficult and dangerous. The most common reaction of the older driver is to slow down the vehicle under his or her control. Many older women, especially those over 70, are learning to drive after the death of a spouse. This new responsibility is being assumed at a time when it is more difficult to perform driving tasks- but instruction may be helpful in offsetting the lack of experience.
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Younger drivers have likely had the experience of driving behind an older driver who seems to be driving too slow for conditions. The older driver must compensate for the inability to process confusing information quickly forcing the older adult to slow the vehicle down.
Both photographs in this slide utilize the empathic lens and demonstrate the loss of clarity and contrast and the effect upon focus. In order to see either a pedestrian or another vehicle in the path of the their vehicle older drivers must proceed slowly and permit time to process the visual information ahead and surrounding the vehicle they are driving.
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