ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging
Sec. Interventions in Aging
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2025.1563917
Adapting to Vision Changes: Nighttime Driving Experiences of Older Adults
Provisionally accepted
- 1Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Georgia, United States
- 2Columbus State University, Columbus, Indiana, United States
- 3The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States
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Introduction: This qualitative study explored older adults' perspectives and experiences of nighttime driving, focusing on age-related vision changes. Methods: We conducted virtual, semi-structured interviews with active drivers aged 60 or older from central Ohio. The interview guide encompassed four key domains: personal and driving history, nighttime driving practices/abilities/anxieties, the role of driving, and policy opinions. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis with ATLAS.ti™. Results: Eleven participants (eight males; ages 64-77) completed interviews. Four major themes emerged: 1) age-related vision and driving changes, 2) nighttime driving patterns, 3) importance of driving, and 4) nighttime driving safety recommendations. Each theme included two to three subthemes, focusing on perceived impact of vision changes on nighttime driving ability and potential adaptive strategies to address these changes. Discussion: Our findings contribute to existing literature and may inform programs and technological advancements to enhance nighttime driving safety for this vulnerable population.
Keywords: Nighttime driving, older drivers, Road safety, Qualitative, Driving independence
Received: 18 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Rundus, Rose, Zhang, Brown and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jingzhen Yang, Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, 43215, Georgia, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.