Risks older drivers face themselves and threats they pose to other road users

Evans, Leonard

doi:10.1093/ije/29.2.315

Cited by 114 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…Driving has major benefits for the independence, social participation, and well-being of older people [9,10] . However, the accident rate for older drivers per kilometer driven is higher than for all other age groups except young novice drivers [11] , and the relative frailty of older drivers means they are more likely to be injured or die in a road accident than any other age group [12,13] . As a consequence, the issue of ensuring the safety of older drivers together with the safety of all road users is currently receiving considerable international attention.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

To Continue, Modify or Relinquish Driving: Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Healthy Ageing

et al. 2007

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Background: The number and proportion of drivers among people entering later life continues to rise. More information on patterns of driving for older adults is required to improve service provision and traffic planning. Objectives: To map the changes in driving status for a sample of drivers aged 65 years or older over the period 1994–2000, and to identify factors associated with older people continuing, modifying or relinquishing their status as drivers. Methods: The 752 participants were drawn from the Melbourne Longitudinal Studies on Healthy Ageing (MELSHA) program, a longitudinal study of people aged 65 years and older living in the community. Participants were interviewed or contacted for follow-up in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000 on a range of topics including their health, functional independence and driving status. Results: Although the number of recent drivers was smaller as participants died or were admitted to nursing homes over the 6-year data collection period, relatively few participants relinquished driving while remaining in the community. Many drivers reported modifying their driving habits over time, including decisions to restrict their driving to their local area during daylight only. Relationships were explored between driving status and the key variables of age, gender, marital status, instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) independence and self-rated measures of income, health, eyesight and hearing. Multivariate analyses indicated that drivers were more likely to modify their driving habits if they were older, dependent in IADL, and rated their eyesight as poor. Similar factors predicted relinquishing driving, but in addition, women were three times more likely to relinquish driving than men (even when health and disability were taken into account) and people who rated their incomes as ‘comfortable’ were more likely to relinquish driving than those with lower incomes. Conclusions: This study confirmed previous evidence that older drivers self-regulate by modifying their driving behavior as they age. However, since few drivers voluntarily relinquish driving, further research is required to identify ways of supporting older drivers to continue to drive safely.

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confidence: 99%

To Continue, Modify or Relinquish Driving: Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Healthy Ageing

et al. 2007

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“…Our results show that a higher frequency and distance of driving (in young-old drivers) were associated with experiences of near-miss incidents, while driving opportunities may have decreased with aging, particularly in older-old age. In fact, concerning the driving distance, the number of crashes per distance driven increased with age [37], even among the older-old [38]. The current study focused on the general population of older adults (e.g., those with MMSE scores ≥25); therefore, advanced age might not necessarily have had a negative impact on the risk of unsafe driving among cognitively healthy older adults.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations of Near-Miss Traffic Incidents with Attention and Executive Function among Older Japanese Drivers

Makizako¹,

Shimada²,

Hotta³

et al. 2018

Gerontology

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Background: Attention and executive function may play an important role in ensuring safe driving as they involve paying attention to complex information and making an instantaneous judgment during driving. We hypothesized that poor performance in attention and executive function may increase the risk of near-miss incidents among older drivers. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine associations of current experience of near-miss traffic incidents with attention and executive function among older Japanese drivers. Methods: The study included 3,421 general older drivers (mean age: 71.7 ± 4.9 years; 56.3% men) with a valid driver’s license who were currently driving at least once per week and who had participated in a community-based cohort study between February 2015 and August 2016. The participants were asked about their experiences of near-miss traffic incidents in 10 situations that had almost happened during driving in the previous year. Results: Of the 3,421 older drivers, 1,840 (53.8%) had experienced near-miss incidents during driving in the previous year at least once. Male sex (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.27–1.69) and high driving frequency (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.07–1.15) were significantly associated with the current experience of near-miss traffic incidents when the overall data were analyzed. In young-old drivers aged 65–74 years, poor performance in attention as assessed by the Trail Making Test-part A (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.05–2.00) was significantly associated with near-miss traffic incidents. Conclusion: Male sex, high driving frequency, and poor performance in attention (in young-old drivers) were associated with near-miss traffic incidents. Improvement in attention may play a role in decreasing the risk of traffic accidents among older drivers.

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“…Dellinger et al 2004;Evans, 2000;Lafont et al 2010). Against this background, a general screening of the whole population of older drivers does not appear reasonable from a cost/benefit perspective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Driving licences and medical screening in old age: Review of literature and European licensing policies

Siren

Haustein

2015

Journal of Transport & Health

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Chronological age, per se, seems to be, in the case of mature drivers, only a weak predictor of safe driving performance. However, screening policies based on chronological age are widely used.Nevertheless, lately, more evidence-based policies have been called for. In this paper we first, investigate the evidence for and against having an age-based driver screening policy in place; second, we map and compare the current driving licensing policies in European Union (EU) member states in order to examine the variation; and third, we draw conclusions based on the literature and the policy mapping and provide policy recommendations. We find no evidence from the literature demonstrating that the benefits from age-based driver screening would outweigh the disadvantages, and we find the European policies, to a large extent, coercive and not evidence based. Based on research evidence, the policies are likely to limit the mobility and potentially worsen the safety of older persons.

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Risks older drivers face themselves and threats they pose to other road users

Cited by 114 publications

References 4 publications

To Continue, Modify or Relinquish Driving: Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Healthy Ageing

To Continue, Modify or Relinquish Driving: Findings from a Longitudinal Study of Healthy Ageing

Associations of Near-Miss Traffic Incidents with Attention and Executive Function among Older Japanese Drivers

Driving licences and medical screening in old age: Review of literature and European licensing policies

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