Driving, Safety and the Elderly

There was an award-winning movie some years back, called Driving Miss Daisy. It was all about a proud, elderly lady who could no longer drive. After unsuccessful attempts at public transportation, her son hires a chauffeur to solve the problem. The arrangement forged an unlikely, yet touching friendship between the driver and his passenger. Such is life in the movies. However for most seniors, hiring a personal chauffeur is not an option.

American society is undergoing a major demographic transformation, which is resulting in a larger proportion of older individuals in the population. Recent travel surveys, from the past fifteen years, show an increasing number of older people are currently licensed to drive. These drivers are behind the wheel more than their counterparts of fifteen years ago.

Some believe this demographic change, called the "graying of America" coupled with the increasing mobility of the older population poses a serious highway safety issue. The major concerns are the identification of "high-risk" older drivers and the establishment of licensing guidelines.

However, legislative attempts to add to the testing requirements for older drivers have met with opposition from senior groups such as AARP.

Additional driving tests for seniors continue to be a highly controversial topic around the nation. Senior advocacy groups pushed state lawmakers to defeat age-based driving bills in both Florida and Texas.

Research has shown everyone ages differently and growing old does not necessarily mean a person becomes a safety hazard on the road. Much depends on the a person's physical and mental health as the years go by. Studies have shown a direct link between the kinds of driving problems experienced by older motorists and the physical changes that can occur in all older persons.

According to AARP, about thirty percent of those over age 65 are hearing impaired. The ability to hear is more important to driving than most people realize.