Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux

Type de document

COMMUNICATION AVEC ACTES INTERNATIONAL (ACTI)

Langue

anglais

Auteur

GABAUDE ; PAUZIE

Résumé / Abstract

Concerning the driving regulation, each European country has adopted its own requirements upon drivers functional abilities testing. The question raised nowadays is to harmonise these various criteria, and especially to choose the most appropriate one in relation to the driving task. Many functional abilities might be concerned by this activity such as vision, audition, physical handicap or mental one, cardiovascular disease ... Although there are many aspects of human performance that are related to driving ability, vision is the primary sensory input on which the driver depends. A decrease in visual skills could be an important causal or contributor factor in the driving difficulties experienced by the driver. Nevertheless, no irrefutable visual tests, clearly correlate with accident rate, is available for the moment. The debate is about the relevance to use or not, for licence testing, some visual tests showing no direct consequences for road safety. After reviewing the various legislations in the community, the aim is to discuss the relevance of existing criteria, the practical implementation of medical examination procedures and how elderly drivers are considered in the various European countries. This last question will be simultaneously tackled by considering both consequences of the functional abilities modifications for the driving performance and the requirements of the mobility right taking into account the importance in terms of social integration for this population.