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Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) will greatly impact the lives of individuals with visual impairments, but how they differ in expectations compared to sighted individuals is not clear. The present research reports results based on survey responses from 114 visually impaired participants and 117 panel recruited participants without visual impairments, from Germany. Their attitudes towards autonomous vehicles and their expectations for consequences of wide-spread adoption of CAVs are assessed. Results indicate significantly more positive CAV attitudes in participants with visual impairments compared to those without visual impairments. Mediation analyses indicate that visually impaired individuals' more positive CAV attitudes (compared to sighted individuals') are largely explained by higher hopes for independence, and more optimistic expectations regarding safety and sustainability. Policy makers should ensure accessibility without sacrificing goals for higher safety and lower ecological impact to make CAVs an acceptable inclusive mobility solution.

Purpose: A variety of visual and psychometric tests have been developed for assessing on-road driving performance and fitness to drive. The diagnostic power of a state of the art psychometric test battery (Vienna Test System) combined with a set of standard visual parameters recommended for assessing fitness to drive is investigated using an on-road driving test. The study aimed to determine whether a psychometric test battery could predict older adults' on-road driving performance. The relevance of visual standards required by law is discussed., Methods: Vision impairment is more prevalent in later adulthood and many studies on visual and cognitive impact on driving safety and performance therefore focus on adults above 60 years of age. We therefore acquired an extensive set of driving-related visual and psychometric performance parameters in a group of elderly drivers (N = 84, median age 69, SD 6.6 years). Visual assessment included foveal acuity, perimetric field size, and dynamic aspects of peripheral vision (termed "PP") in the computer-based Vienna Test System (VTS; Schuhfried), as well as letter contrast thresholds in foveal and parafoveal vision in a separate setup. A selection of psychometric driving-aptitude tests that demonstrated the battery's capacity to predict aspects of driving performance and safety were further conducted on the VTS. Driving performance was assessed in a standardized on-road driving test. Two independent observers rated driving performance using a fixed scoring system assessing the number of driving errors in pre-defined traffic situations. In addition, globalized driving competence scores were assigned on a 6-point scale., Results: The test battery performed excellent in identification of good drivers but failed in the prediction of bad driving performance. Visual performance indicators required by German law were less indicative of driving ability than psychometric assessment. Selective and divided attention turned out to be much more important for predicting fitness to drive than either visual acuity, size of the visual field, or contrast sensitivity., Conclusion: Predicting fitness to drive by means of visual and psychometric tests is an ambitious challenge. On the one hand sensitivity of a multi-disciplinary test-battery is too low to predict reliable driving ability in diagnostic settings which require an unambiguous interpretation of test results for individual drivers. Low sensitivity and low predictive values are incompatible with that objective. On the other hand, the results are valuable for a routine screening of fitness to drive. For that case, the assessment of attentional abilities in particular appears to be promising. Performance measures of divided and selective attention showed themselves to be the most predictive for fitness to drive in a sample pre-screened for clear visual deficits. Visual performance parameters required by law, in contrast, had no meaningful impact on driving performance, indicating a gap between mandatory regulations of state authorities and research results. Our results suggest that visual acuity tests designed for clinical diagnosis and monitoring of eye diseases should not at all be the choice for a screening of fitness to drive., Competing Interests: The author WG is related to Volkswagen as paid employee. Period and place of origin of this work are not related to that membership. They refer to the author’s previous employment as scientific associate at the LMU Munich. The author’s employment at Volkswagen does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Social-Emotional Competence in Young Children with Hearing, Visual or Intellectual Impairments - an Explorative Study with the ITSEA Early emotional and social competence is considered as an important requirement for social participation in family and child care settings. We report on a study exploring the usefulness of the competence scales as a part of the "Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment" (ITSEA) for one- to three-year old children in a sample of 253 toddlers with hearing, visual or intellectual impairments. Internal consistency of the six scales is good (alpha > .86). An ANOVA reveals significant differences between the three groups and a correlation with additional disabilities. These explorative results support the development of a German standardization of the ITSEA.

Purpose: To validate the German-translated Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire, a vision-specific quality of life (QoL) scale, and determine the relationship between the severity of vision impairment, ocular conditions, and VRQoL., Methods: This cross-sectional study was clinic based, with 184 patients with low vision recruited from an outpatient clinic at a German eye hospital. Participants underwent a clinical examination and completed the German IVI scale. The validity of the IVI scale was assessed using Rasch analysis. The main outcome measure was the overall functional and emotional score provided by the IVI., Results: Overall, there were more female (n = 111, 60.3%) than male participants. Participants' mean ± SD age and visual acuity in the better eye were 69.0 ± 15.5 years and. 0.41 ± 0.35 logMAR, respectively. The main cause of vision loss was age-related macular degeneration (n = 54, 29.3%). Rasch analysis demonstrated the validity of the German IVI to assess VRQoL through two subscales: vision-specific functioning and emotional well-being. In adjusted multivariate analysis models, those with mild or moderate/severe vision impairment reported significantly poorer vision-specific functioning (mean change, -6.5, P = 0.018 and -11.98, P < 0.001 for mild and moderate to severe VI, respectively) and emotional well-being (mean change, -2.35; P = 0.043 and -3.13, P = 0.004 for mild and moderate/severe VI respectively) compared with non-visually impaired patients., Conclusions: Using a psychometrically valid German IVI, even mild vision impairment was independently associated with poor VRQoL. These findings reinforce the importance of early preventative and rehabilitative efforts to prevent longitudinal deterioration in vision loss.