Design of the New Foot Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) for Screening Driving Ability

The ability to respond swiftly and accurately to visual stimuli is critical for safe driving. The traditional Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) primarily assesses response time (RT) using finger inputs, but these do not directly evaluate foot responses essential for vehicle control. This study introduces a novel Foot Psychomotor Vigilance Test (Foot PVT) designed to measure the RTs of the foot in response to simulated traffic lights. The Foot PVT integrates a traffic light display interface with a three-pedal system, simulating basic driving conditions. RTs are recorded for three colors (blue, yellow, red) displayed in a randomized order, and the response accuracy is evaluated based on the pedal input. The system also measures correction times for errors, offering insights into a driver’s ability to recover from mistakes. Validation experiments were conducted with eleven healthy younger (25 ± 3 years) and eleven healthy older adult participants (73 ± 4 years). The results showed that the older adult participants (818 ± 84 ms) exhibited significantly longer RTs than the younger participants (725 ± 74 ms, p = 0.016), consistent with age-related cognitive and motor decline. Interestingly, the older participants had fewer false starts, suggesting a compensatory cautious approach to responding. The Foot PVT has the potential to serve as a low-cost, efficient screening tool for evaluating driving fitness, particularly for older adult individuals and novice drivers.