Back to Older Drivers

Issues affecting Older drivers

People are living longer; the average lifespan for a man is now 82 years and for a woman 87 years.

In Suffolk, 17% of driving licenses are held by over 65's.

Because of increased physical frailty older drivers are up to four times more likely to be severely injured or die in a road accident than a young adult.

In Suffolk, between 2005 - 2007 the most common cause of crashes involving the over 60's where the older driver was deemed to be at fault was turning right, which accounted for over 20% of all crashes in this group.

This could be attributed to issues with eyesight, mobility and the ability to judge the speed and distance of approaching traffic.

Over 19% of crashes involved the older driver going into the back of the vehicle in front.

This again, could be attributed to eyesight, difficulty judging distance or a lack of awareness of changing road conditions ahead.

Coping Strategies

•  Changing from a Manual gearbox to an Automatic
•  Avoiding driving at certain times of day (especially night time)
•  Avoid certain routes (especially during rush hours)
•  Limiting the time spent driving

These measures can be helpful in assisting drivers to retain their independence for longer.

As we age, our reaction times slow and we become more reliant on our experience. If we start to lose that experience, through driving less, we start to lose confidence, which can adversely affect our driving ability.

The GrandDriver Scheme aims to identify issues and address them with advice, education and if necessary, training.

Considerations for safe driving

The Driver
The Vehicle
The Journey

The Driver:
Things that may affect us are our health. Consider the medication you are taking and it's affect on driving.

Does your GP know that you drive? If you suffer from a condition such as Arthritis, do you have certain times of day that you feel at your best? Could you arrange to carry out your journeys when you feel at your best and arrange alternative travel for the times of day you don't feel as well, or avoid travelling altogether?

Pain can be distracting and cause fatigue. Stiffness can increase reaction times and affect your ability to apply pressure to the brake pedal, or restrict movement when trying to make observations.

Eyesight generally starts to deteriorate from around 40 years old. It's not just our ability to see distances that can be affected. We may also have problems judging depth and colour.

•  Have your eyes checked regularly. Regular checks can also detect other health issues such as diabetes

•  Avoid night driving if you suffer from cataracts or find it difficult to cope with glare from headlights

The Vehicle:
The type of vehicle we choose can either help or hinder our driving.

As vehicle design improves with regards to additional protection through air bags and side impact protection, the visibility from within the vehicle can suffer. Wider pillars and smaller rear screens can make effective observation difficult - especially if the driver has stiffness and restricted movement.

'Small and tall' vehicles can sometimes offer better views, easier accessibility in and out of the vehicle as well as economy.

Changing from a manual to an automatic gearbox can also help where joints are stiff, and in addition give the driver one less task to focus on.

Mobility aids, such as additional mirrors, steering balls and swivel or wedge cushions can also help with comfort, ease and accessibility.

Power assisted steering and brakes usually come as standard in modern cars and can be beneficial to drivers with restricted mobility.

The Journey:
The number of vehicles on the road and road layouts make driving ever more challenging.

We can look at the routes we take and the times we travel to help alleviate stress and fatigue.

Is the journey necessary? - Could an alternative mode of transport be used? With fuel costs and the costs and inconvenience of parking in town, could using a Taxi be an alternative?

Could certain times of day and routes be avoided all together? Sitting in rush hour with all the commuters wastes fuel, and can be tiring and stressful. Would leaving half an hour later be acceptable?

If we need to be somewhere at a certain time, could we avoid the busiest routes?

The GrandDriver scheme can offer further advice on these issues in more detail as well as giving drivers an opportunity to improve or refresh their skills and knowledge.

For many people, the Driving Test is the only assessment of their driving that they will ever have.

Most of us would not even consider not regularly servicing our vehicles. Not having a current MOT or ignoring a knocking noise would be unthinkable.

Yet around 95% of crashes are attributed to human error, so why do most of us not even think about servicing our driving skills?

Download

A review of the literature on older driver risk, and an analysis of older drivers' collisions in Suffolk 2005-2007
Download PDF (550kb)

Useful Sites

www.suffolkonboard.com