Is it Feasible to Screen Older Drivers Using a Battery of Available Tests and Triage Them into Meaningful Driving Risk Groups?

This study describes how by the year 2030 the older population aged 60 and above is projected to be twice as large as any other age-group, growing from 35 million to 71.5 million and representing nearly 20% of the total U.S. population. Coupling this growth with an increase in life expectancy, we can expect substantial increases in the number of older Americans traveling on roadways. Older driver crashes are related to inattention or slowed response, lack of recognition of these changes or the fact that they can be influenced by prescription medication use, poor vision or other medical conditions. The presence of these changes may not constitute heightened risk except in a driver who fails to adjust their behavior to compensate for those conditions. There is no good measure of elevation in risk, and there is limited evidence upon which to make recommendations to older drivers about how to regulate their driving behaviors. Is it feasible to screen older drivers using available tests and triage them into meaningful driving risk groups? This study presents a description of more than 60 older adults aged 65 and older who are being screened for possible participation in a comprehensive driver-self regulation training program. Components of the screening include vision, range of motion, reaction time measurement, and functional cognitive testing. Preliminary results suggest that up to 30% of these individuals may screen at high driving impairment risk.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/13538047
• Authors:
  • Jones, V
  • Gielen, A
  • Rebok, G
  • Bailey, M
  • Parrish, J
  • Gaines, J
  • Shao, Y L
• Conference:
  • Safety 2010. 10th World Conference
  • Location: London , United Kingdom
  • Date: 2010-9-21 to 2010-9-24
• Publication Date: 2010-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Pagination: v.p.
• Monograph Title: Safety 2010 World Conference
• Serial:
  • Injury Prevention
  • Volume: 16
  • Issue Number: Supplement 1
  • Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
  • ISSN: 1353-8047
  • EISSN: 1475-5785
  • Serial URL: http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Aged drivers; Driver training; Driving tests; High risk drivers; Human factors in crashes; Self evaluation; Traffic crashes
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01329299
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 2011 1:41PM