Fatalities in elderly drivers and pedestrians: neuropathological evaluation of sub-clinical dementia

The authors examined the brains of 52 pedestrians and 27 drivers aged 65 years and over who died as a result of a traffic accident and compared them to appropriately matched controls of similar age. Each brain was assessed for two types of neuropathological lesions associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD): neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and neuritic plaques (NP). A detail crash investigation was then undertaken for subjects exhibiting increased levels of neuropathology, to identify specific areas of risk in the traffic environment. Pedestrians with high NFT scores appear to have proportionately more difficulty in traffic situations that may not be perceived to entail risk: simple road locations, non-crossing locations and near-kerb lanes of traffic. Generally, for all older pedestrians, the high number of accidents that occurred on, or near, a designated pedestrian crossing is an area of concern. Preliminary results for drivers indicate few had high levels of NFT or NP. However, there was a significant increase in drivers with mild neuropathology associated with AD compared to controls. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E211804.

• Authors:
  • GORRIE, C A
  • RODRIQUEZ, M L
  • DUFLOU, J
  • SACHDEV, P
  • WAITE, P M
• Publication Date: 2004

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 11P
• Monograph Title: Road safety: our business, everyone's responsibility: Local Government Road Safety Conference Proceedings 2004
• Serial:
  • LOCAL GOVERNMENT ROAD SAFETY CONFERENCE, 2004, PARRAMATTA, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA
  • Publisher: ROADS AND TRAFFIC AUTHORITY (RTA)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Conferences; Diseases and medical conditions; Driver performance; Drivers; Fatalities; Head; Pedestrians; Safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Psychosis
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 1772: Driver; 1602: Fatality; 2134: Illness; 1746: Old people; 1733: Pedestrian; 1665: Safety; 2205: Skill (road user)
• Subject Areas: Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01011424
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Dec 19 2005 3:09PM