Aging and the Detection of Collision Events in Fog

The current study investigated age-related differences in the detection of collision events in fog. Observers were presented with displays simulating an object moving towards a driver at a constant speed and linear trajectory. The observers’ task was to detect whether the object would collide with them. Fog and display duration of the object were manipulated. We found that performance decreased when fog was simulated for older but not for younger observers. An age-related decrement was also found with shorter display durations. These results suggest that under poor weather conditions with reduced visibility, such as fog, older drivers may have increased accident risk due to decreased ability to detect impending collision events.