In the United States, rural residents heavily rely on automobiles for transportation. 96% of rural households have one or more vehicles. 94% of women aged 65 to 74 in rural areas drive, and this percentage is 79% for women aged 75 to 84, and 54% for women aged 85 or older. The percentage of senior males in rural areas who drive is higher than that of females in the same age group. For example, 72% of males aged 85+ in rural areas drive. According to a study, seniors continue driving because of the lack of alternative means of transportation, and they start limiting their driving or stopping driving because of functional difficulties. On a short run, seniors in rural areas still heavily rely on driving their personal vehicles. Assisting this group of drivers in rural areas is imperative to ensure the quality of their lives. Vision provides about 85% of information we need to make safe decisions when driving. However, a 60-year-old person requires 10 times as much light to drive as a 19-year-old. A 55-year-old takes eight times longer to recover from glare than a 16-year-old. Senior drivers can take twice as long to distinguish the flash of brake lights as younger drivers. Besides the difficulty in seeing, stiff joints and weaken muscles, trouble hearing, slower reaction time and reflexes are other reasons that make it difficult for seniors to drive. Driving assistance technologies, especially from the aspect of visual perception and cognition, can help enhance the speed and accuracy of elderly drivers in response to risky traffic agents and dangerous scenarios.
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