Acceptance and feasibility of the feedback drive as safety measure for older drivers in Germany
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/swpc6180Keywords:
accident prevention, driving competence, driving errors, measures for older drivers, Western EuropeAbstract
The increasing proportion of older drivers in Germany presents growing challenges for road safety and the maintenance of independent mobility. Although older adults are underrepresented in overall crash involvement, they are more often at fault in complex traffic situations. Conventional age-based screening approaches fail to account for the substantial interindividual variability in driving competence. This paper therefore examines feedback drives as a voluntary, non-punitive measure to support safe driving among older adults in Germany. Driving competence is assessed in situ within real traffic by experts, who subsequently provide individualised post-drive feedback. Two German studies with older drivers (65+, study 1 n = 178; study 2 n = 61) tested the feasibility and acceptance of this approach using a tablet-based evaluation tool. Although many participants demonstrated adequate driving competence, specific deficits frequently emerged in complex situations, such as intersections, lane changes, traffic observation, and speed adaptation. Within the sample, favourable acceptance was observed, with participants reporting a tendency towards increased self-reflection and a willingness to undergo repeated assessments. Overall, voluntary feedback drives offer a promising alternative to mandatory age-based screening by replacing rigid licensing restrictions with constructive professional guidance, thereby supporting compensatory strategies that safely prolong independent mobility. Although sample selectivity limits direct generalisations, these findings establish a solid foundation for future research evaluating the long-term impact and broader implementation of this measure.
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Author Biographies
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Katja Schleinitz, TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 GmbH
Dr. Katja Schleinitz has been head of the Theoretical Driving Licence Examination and Research & Development department at TÜV I DEKRA arge tp 21 since 2020. She completed her PhD in 2016 at Chemnitz University of Technology on the topic of ‘Cyclists' road safety’. Since 2010, she has been working on various traffic psychology research topics, including road safety for older road users, cyclists and e-bike riders, as well as issues relating to driver distraction. She also deals with diagnostic aspects of driving licence examinations and topics in the field of human factors.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Supervision, Writing – original draft.
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Patrick Bräutigam, TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 GmbH
Patrick Bräutigam (Dipl.-Ing.) is a research associate in Research and Development at TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 GmbH. He holds a Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) degree in transportation engineering, with a focus on transport planning and traffic engineering, from TU Dresden, Germany. His work focuses on the statistical modelling and empirical analysis of driver licensing and road safety studies. He places a particular emphasis on pass rates in driving licence examinations, road safety outcomes among novice and elderly road users, forecasting models, and data visualization for scientific publications.
CRediT contribution: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing.
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Lisa Pils, Dekra (Germany)
Lisa Pils, M.Sc. Psychology, worked as a consultant at TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 in the area of driver licensing system from 2020 to 2024. Her work included the further development of the theoretical driving test and involvement in the project presented in this article. Since 2025, she has been working as a traffic psychology expert to evaluate fitness to drive within the German Medical-Psychological Assessment (MPU) system.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Investigation.
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Lars Rößger, TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 GmbH
Dr. Lars Rößger is a PhD psychologist with over a decade of research experience at the Chair of Traffic & Transportation Psychology, University of Technology Dresden. His work has focused on traffic safety, visual attention, and modelling human behaviour in road environments. Since 2016, he has led the Research and Development department at TÜV | DEKRA arge tp 21 GmbH, where he specialises in advancing and evaluating Germany’s driver licensing system.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Katja Schleinitz, Patrick Bräutigam, Lisa Pils, Lars Rößger
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