By Bill Johnston
The Journal of the American Medical Association published on December 18, 2023 an article entitled “Driving Impairment Among Older Adults” by Rebecca A. Voelker, MSJ. Also, the National Institute on Aging offers advice to older drivers on www.nia.nih.gov/health/safety/safe-driving-older-adults.
The problem is the risk of dying in a car crash is 2.5 times higher for drivers aged 75 to 79 years and 5 times higher for those aged 80 years or older compared with younger drivers.
Many of us living at Frisco Lakes could be described as “older drivers.” My hope is this article, and these sites are read with the goal of increasing the safety of everyone at Frisco Lakes, including ourselves, family, friends and neighbors.
I have merged relevant material from both sources and edited for brevity purposes.
Sheila’s Story
At age 78, Sheila thinks she’s still a good driver, but this year, she’s had one minor accident and several near misses. She’s also noticed a few new dents on her car and doesn’t know how they got there. Lately, her daughters have begun offering to drive her to places she normally goes to on her own. Sheila wants to keep driving as she gets older but is starting to wonder how she can stay safe behind the wheel.
Many older drivers have age-related and medical conditions and medications that affect their driving performance.
Age-related changes of decreased vision, cognitive decline, slowed reaction time, and decreased grip strength increase the risk of common driving errors, including straying from driving lanes, failing to observe speed limits, and overlooking traffic signs
Acute medical conditions that impair driving include seizures, fainting, low blood pressure, low blood glucose, and irregular heartbeat, which may cause dizziness or trouble breathing.
Chronic medical conditions that can impair driving include dementia, neurologic conditions that affect muscle strength and coordination such as Parkinson disease or a prior stroke, and untreated sleep apnea, which increases the risk of falling asleep while driving.
Medications that cause sleepiness or affect the ability to think clearly, such as benzodiazepines, opioids, anticholinergic drugs, and certain anticonvulsant and antipsychotic drugs, increase the risk of car crashes. Driving risks increase when older drivers take multiple sedating medications.
Help Older Adults Drive More Safely.
Individuals who pose a hazard to safe driving need to be identified. Family members who ride in a car with older drivers may help determine if their driving is unsafe. Distractions such as talking on cell phones or texting while driving should be discouraged.
Doctors and pharmacists can help individuals reduce or stop medications that cause sleepiness or impaired thinking. Treatment of potentially reversible risk factors, such as cataract surgery for impaired vision or continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy for sleep apnea, are recommended.
Test to Evaluate Older Drivers.
Global positioning systems that plug in to a port under the dashboard can provide information about whether a driver speeds, brakes hard, accelerates suddenly, or turns corners haphazardly. Data from these devices can spur conversations about safe driving.
Road tests administered by specialists in occupational therapy help evaluate how well older drivers navigate traffic situations and determine if their driving privileges should be revoked.
Use technology to Help Older Drivers.
Some cars alert drivers if they are drifting from their lane, if a vehicle is in their blind spot, if pedestrians are in their path, or if they must take action to avoid a crash.
Some vehicles have automatic parallel parking and emergency braking and provide alerts about worsening weather conditions or obstructed traffic signs, which may also decrease driving errors.
The good news is with the availability of Uber and Lyft and door to door service, lack of a car no longer means looking for a parking space nor going into isolation. In short, there are less reasons now to be reluctant to be “giving up those keys”!
Safe Driving!
Bill
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