MOBILITY DEVICES FOR THE ELDERLY

Abstract

The authors propose the use of micro-electric vehicles called “silver vehicles” (SV) as mobility devices for older drivers who have difficulty driving automobiles. Previous reports have described research on characteristics of the elderly, proposed the SV concept and evaluated it in townmobility field tests. This report addresses feasibility of the SV concept and issues of town planning through a follow-up study of characteristics of the elderly three years later, long-term in-use testing of SV-comparable production vehicles, and investigations of elderly driver characteristics and trailing behavior in mixed traffic situations.