Identifying Policy Approaches to Extending the Safe Mobility of Older Adults

Driving and driver licensing play an important role in safe mobility for older adults. However, much remains to be learned about the impact of various licensing policies on older driver crash risk and mobility. The objective of this research was to examine effective policies and practices in driver licensing of older and medically at-risk drivers and offer practical guidance to driver licensing officials and policymakers. To achieve this objective, four major tasks were undertaken. The first was to review the literature examining older driver policies internationally and their impact on crashes, traffic safety, and mobility. The second was to conduct in-depth interviews with representatives from licensing authorities to learn more about current practices, successes, challenges, needs, and recommendations. The third was to conduct multivariate analyses using data from a large-scale multi-site prospective cohort study of aging drivers, Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (AAA LongROAD), to examine individual and environmental factors that may mediate or moderate the effectiveness of different licensing policies. The final task was to develop recommendations to offer practical guidance to driver licensing officials and policymakers. This report discusses each of these tasks. For each of first three tasks (international literature review, in-depth interviews, and analysis of AAA LongROAD data), detailed information is provided about the background of the task, the methods or approach used to complete the task, results from the task, and overall conclusions. For the fourth task, recommendations are presented separately for licensing renewal, physician reporting and referrals by others, and the medical review process, with each section divided into policy and practice recommendations. Recommendations for partnerships to promote older driver safety and mobility are added in a fourth section, as they cut across multiple licensing policies and practices. The report also includes a conclusions and discussion section, which highlights potential avenues of research to support and enhance implementation of the recommendations.

• Record URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Identifying-Policy-Approaches-to-Extending-the-Safe-Mobility-of-Older-Adults_Final-Report.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20-1390-AAAFTS-Older-Adult-Policy-Approaches-Fact-Sheet_FNL.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • © 2021 AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
• Corporate Authors:

  AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Molnar, Lisa J
  • Eby, David W
  • Zakrajsek, Jennifer S
  • Zanier, Nicole
  • Leslie, Andrew
  • Elliott, Emma
  • Nriagu, Emeka
• Publication Date: 2021-1

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 92p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aged; Driver licensing; Mobility; Policy; Recommendations; Traffic safety
• Identifier Terms: Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Policy; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01764812
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 17 2021 10:44AM