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Media Releases
Is Your Aging Parent A Safe Driver?
Columbia, Mo. (November 16, 2006) Driving is such a part of our daily lives that the complex abilities required to drive safely are easily taken for granted. As a driver gets older, some physical and mental changes can impair those abilities and put the driver at a higher risk for accidents. Is your loved one a safe driver? MARRTC researcher has some tips for you to find out the answer.
There are two changes in the aging process that are most relevant to driving safety: vision and cognition, says Diana Baldwin, occupational therapist and principle investigator at the Missouri Arthritis Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (MARRTC).
About 90% of the information required for driving safety relates to vision, yet one in every five people above the age of 70 experiences some degree of vision impairments. For instance, explains Baldwin, it takes three times more light for an older person to see than it does for someone who is 25 years old.
Cognitive changes, or dementia, affect one's perception, attention, concentration, memory, judgment and multitasking capabilities, all of which are crucial for road safety. According to some recent studies, Baldwin says, dementia can significantly affect driving even at the beginning stages.
Vision and cognitive changes, along with an increased tendency to tire, decreased flexibility and muscle strengths caused by other functional degenerations and diseases such as arthritis, make older drivers more vulnerable to collisions. In fact, notes Baldwin, based on amount of driving, older drivers have more crashes and those over 75 years have more fatal crashes than any other age group.
However, the aging process "happens very, very slowly and very, very gradually. It's not like having a stroke, and a lot of times the older drivers themselves are not even aware of the changes," says Baldwin. "And this is especially the case for dementia."
Therefore, it is essential that the adult children of older drivers stay alert to early warning signs, help make driving modifications, and when it is evident that driving safely is no longer occurring, advise the driver to give up the car keys.
If you are concerned about the older driver(s) in your family, here's what you can do to keep track of changes in their driving abilities.
Ride with them. Take some time to ride with or follow your loved one at least once every sixth months. Pay attention to details especially their reactions at intersections and turning left. Be alert to any changes that indicate impaired driving abilities. Warning signs include:
Forgetting to buckle-up or not using the seat belt because it's difficult to manipulate
Mistaking the gas pedal for the brake pedal
Having difficulty turning left at intersections
Nearly hitting cars, pedestrians, or objects without realizing it
Driving the wrong way against traffic
Getting lost, even on familiar routes
Merging, backing-up or changing lanes without looking
Being honked at or passed very often because driving slowly or hesitantly
Hesitating or getting upset in complex driving situations
Failing to obey traffic signs, e.g. running stop signs without realizing it
Stopping at a green light or at the wrong time
Staying too close to other vehicles
Parking incorrectly
Having more dents and scratches on the car
Talk to the spouse and close friends of the older driver. Has the driver had any vision problems occurred recently? Does he/she have trouble memorizing things? Has he/she complained about any muscle pain or stiffness? Is he/she less focused fulfilling daily tasks? Baldwin says that these signs have to be picked up as soon as possible, because "if it happens at home, it definitely will happen in the car."
Get routine eye exams. Make compensations for vision changes. For example, encourage your loved one to avoid driving at night, in dense traffic, in unknown areas, or in bad weather. Consider installing a mirror that shows "blind spots" or that of a panoramic type.
Encourage a visit to the doctor. The doctor can check your loved one's medical history, list of medicines, and current health to see if any of these may affect their driving safety.
Arrange a driving test. A driver rehabilitation specialist can assess your loved one's driving safety through an office exam and driving test. The specialist can also make suggestions of defensive driving techniques or special equipment to enhance driving safety. If there is no such specialist in your area, contact a local driving school or your state's Department of Motor Vehicles to see if they can do a driving test.
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