Safety and Licensing Outcomes for Older Drivers Reported as Medically Impaired

The identification and evaluation of medically impaired drivers is an important safety issue. The concept of medical fitness to drive is applicable to all ages but is particularly salient for older adults. Voluntary procedures to address medical fitness, whereby various professionals and family members may report concerns to State driver license bureaus, are common in the United States. This paper examines traffic crashes of drivers reported during 2001–2005 under the State of Missouri’s voluntary reporting law (House Bill HB-1536) and the resulting licensing outcomes. Missouri’s law is non-specific as to age, but the mean age of reported drivers was 80. Reports were submitted by police officers (30%), license office staff (27%), physicians (20%), family members (16%), and others (7%). The most common medical condition was dementia/cognitive (45%). Crash history for reported drivers was higher than that of controls, dating back to 1993, reaching a peak in 2001 when the share of reported drivers in crashes was 9.3% vs. 2.2% for controls—a fourfold difference. The crash share of reported drivers decreased rapidly after, indicating the impact of reporting, license revocation, and mortality. Of the 4,100 cases studied, 144 (3.5%) retained a valid driver’s license after the process.

• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Meuser, Thomas M
  • Carr, David B
  • Ulfarsson, Gudmundur Freyr
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 88th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2009-1-11 to 2009-1-15
• Date: 2009

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: DVD
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 88th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged drivers; Case studies; Driver licensing; Driving cessation; Health care; Impaired drivers; Physical fitness; Safety; Traffic safety
• Uncontrolled Terms: Mortality rates
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01123170
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 09-0162
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Mar 13 2009 6:36AM