Young
DriversDriver Education & Road Safety
Older Drivers
As a group, older drivers are some of the country’s safest drivers.
Fewer speed or drive after drinking alcohol than at any other age. However,
compared to young and middle-age adults, people over 70 are more likely to
be involved in a crash while driving and more likely to die in that crash.
There are many reasons for this –– some can be changed, but others
cannot.
How Does Age Affect Driving?
As we grow older, we do not turn into bad drivers. Some of us stay good drivers. Others simply have changes in their ability to handle a car safely. These include:
•Changes in our bodies
•Changes in the way we think
•Health problems
•Medications
Changes in your bodies: As you age, your joints may stiffen, and muscles
weaken. Turning your head to look back or steering and braking the car may
become hard to do. Movements are slower and may not be as accurate. Your senses
of smell, hearing, sight, touch, and taste might grow weaker.
Vision, being able to see, is a vital part of driving, but age brings changes
in the lens of the eye. Eyes need more light in order to see and are more
sensitive to glare. Your ability to see things on the edge of the viewing
area, peripheral vision, narrows. Vision problems include cataracts, macular
degeneration, and glaucoma.
•In cataracts the lens of the eye becomes cloudy, causing problems with
the ability to see.
•Macular degeneration is a breakdown of material inside the eye that
leads to a loss of vision in the central part of the viewing area.
•The rise in pressure inside the eye that develops in glaucoma may limit
the ability to see things on the edge of the viewing area.
Changes in the way you think: You probably know your body may change
with age. You may not be aware of changes in the way your mind works as you
age. Some of you find your reflexes are slower. Or, you may have trouble keeping
your attention fixed on one situation. You may have a hard time doing two
things at once; something you have to do to drive safely. When you drive,
you have to take in new information from many sources and then react. Some
of you react more slowly when you find yourself in a new situation.
These are all normal changes in how your brain works as you age. There are,
however, two forms of mental problems that can also affect your ability to
drive.
• Depression, being "down in the dumps" for a long time, may
happen to many older people, but it is not normal. It can, and should, be
treated. The attention and sleep problems depressed people of any age sometimes
suffer can interfere with safe driving. So can the medicine sometimes used
to treat depression.
•Dementia causes serious memory, personality, and behavioral problems
that the person can not recognize. Someone with dementia may at first remember
how to operate an automobile and how to travel to familiar places. However,
at some point as the disease progresses, their driving abilities do become
impaired. Unfortunately, people with dementia often cannot recognize when
they should no longer drive.
Health problems: Other illnesses common among older people can affect
your ability to drive safely. For example, having arthritis, Parkinson’s
disease, or stroke, makes it harder to handle a car safely. Sleep problems
or fainting make you less alert at an age when you may already have a hard
time focusing your attention. If you have an automatic defibrillator or pacemaker,
your doctor might suggest that you stop driving. There is a chance that the
device might cause an irregular heartbeat or dizziness while driving. Diabetes
may cause nerve damage in your hands, legs, or eyes. The eye damage in diabetes
is known as diabetic retinopathy. If you also have trouble controlling your
blood sugar level and might be in danger of losing consciousness, you should
think about giving up your license.
Medications: Older Australians take more prescription medicines than
any other age group. They often have one or more long-term illnesses such
as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease and may be
taking several different drugs. Their bodies may be more sensitive to the
effects of medicine on their central nervous systems. The older body may not
use up a drug as quickly as a younger body does, so the drug can be active
in them for a longer time. Sometimes a combination of medicines increases
the effects of each drug on the body.
Several types of medication can make driving harder because they affect the
central nervous system. Drugs that might interfere with your driving include
sleep aids, medicine to treat depression, antihistamines for allergies and
colds, strong pain- killers, and diabetes medications. If you are taking one
or more of them, talk to your doctor. Perhaps he or she could change your
prescription, or help you decide if the medicine is affecting your driving.
Perhaps you already know some driving situations that are hard ––night,
highways, rush hour, and bad weather. You might avoid these types of driving
and limit your trips to shopping and visits to the doctor. This lowers your
chance of having an accident.
While driving, older drivers are most at risk while yielding right of way,
turning, especially left turns, lane changing, passing, and using expressway
ramps. Pay extra attention at those times. If there is not a right-turn light,
look for alternate routes that do provide such lights.
Most of the advice for older drivers is helpful for all drivers. Plan your
trips ahead of time. Stick to streets you know. Don’t drive under stress.
Keep distractions such as the fan, radio, or talking, to a minimum. Leave
a big space between your car and the one in front of you. Don’t drive
when you are tired.
Certain features on your car can make driving easier. Power steering, power
brakes, automatic transmission, and larger mirrors are all helpful. Keeping
the headlights on at all times and having a light-colored car helps other
drivers see you. Keep the headlights clean and aligned, and check the windshield
wiper blades often. A rear-window defroster is a good way to keep that window
clear at all times.
Air bags have saved many lives. Advanced age is not a reason for disconnecting
an air bag. However, air bags may not be as effective in preventing serious
injury or death in people over 70 years of age as they are in younger people.
Older people are more likely to be injured in a traffic accident. Their bones
and blood vessels may be rigid. They might break easily. If the collision
is minor, emergency personnel may not realize the possibility of internal
bleeding in time. Of course, everyone in the car should always wear their
seat belts.
Should I Stop Driving?
What if you are doing all you can to be a safe driver and still wonder if
you should stop driving. This is a difficult decision. There are questions
to ask yourself. Do other drivers often honk at you? Have you had some accidents,
even "fender benders"? Are you getting lost, even on well-known
roads? Do cars or pedestrians seem to appear out of nowhere? Have family,
friends, or your doctor said they were worried about your driving? Do you
drive less because you are not as confident about your ability as you once
were? If you answered yes to any of these, you probably should think seriously
about whether or not you are still a safe driver.
There are currently no upper age limits for driving. Because people age at
different rates, it is not possible to choose one age as the limit. Setting
an age limit would leave some drivers on the road too long, while others would
be stopped too soon. Heredity, general health, your way of life, and surroundings
all influence how you age.
The hard question is whether older drivers should be tested differently and
more often. The aim is not to get every older driver off the road. Instead,
if problem drivers can be identified, some of them could then receive training
to improve their driving skills. Unfortunately, others cannot be helped by
training and will have to stop driving.
How Will I Get Around?
When planning for retirement, you should think about how you’d get around
if you were no longer able to drive. Some communities provide low-cost bus
or taxi service for older people. Some offer carpools or transportation on
request. Religious groups sometimes have volunteers who take seniors where
they need to go. There is also the ability to gain the assistance of family
and friends.