We all love to drive. More than 75% of adults carry a driver’s license. This includes 40 million people who are 65 and older. Studies show that giving up driving increases a person’s mortality risk. It also increases the chances that seniors will end up in a nursing community. The question is, how can we make sure that seniors are driving safer and longer?
Transportation is a Problem
The problem is that the average American man outlives his ability to drive by 6 years, and the American woman by 10 years.
It’s not surprising that many seniors don’t want to give up driving. It’s been shown that seniors will always say 10 years in the future when asked when they should stop driving. It doesn’t matter what age they are.
This isn’t to say that older adults can’t drive. In fact, 3.5 million Americans 85 and older still have a driver’s license.
Though, we can’t all hope for great genes that will allow us do that. So, the problem is that seniors don’t have a way to get around after their license is taken. Many seniors live in areas that offer few other transportation alternatives.
How Seniors Are Driving Safer and Longer
It may be surprising, but seniors don’t have the highest crash rates. That title belongs to early drivers, AKA teenagers. In fact, seniors can be the safest drivers sometimes. They don’t text, they wear seat belts, and obey speed limits.
Really the stereotype of older drivers being bad drivers comes from agism.
There is a new long term study called LongROAD that’s hoping to keep seniors on the road longer. The 5 to 10 year project is coordinated by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
The study is following 3,000 seniors who submitted their full medical and driving records. They also allowed a tracking device to be installed in their cars.
Over time, the trip logs should give researchers insight on how well seniors drive. It will give them answers to questions like: What time of day do crashes occur, at what speeds, and on what types of roads? What medications were the drivers taking at the time?
What you can do for yourself though is exercise. Studies have found that cardiovascular exercise can slow cognitive decline and that strength and flexibility programs can improve your performance on aspects of driving like neck rotation and response speed.
You can also see a driver rehabilitation specialist, which is like an occupational therapist on wheels. They will put you through a variety of tests to see if you are still able to drive. Though these services are few and far between.
There is also the hope of better public transportation and self driving cars.
You can read more here.