Older Drivers and

Senior Mobility
National Press Foundation
Driving and Behavior

June 13, 2005

T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, PhD, MPH

National Director of Traffic Safety Policy
AAA
 About AAA
• Not-for-profit federation of 70
independent clubs in US and Canada
• Founded in 1902 to advocate for better
and safer roads
• Service is integral to organization (and a
requirement for AAA clubs)
• 48 Million Members (25% U.S.
households)
A healthier aging population…
The older population is growing.
Even though overall crash rates for
older drivers are relatively low…
Older people are more likely to
die in crashes.
Older Driver Crash in
Santa Monica
 Driving = Independence
Older drivers rely on their vehicles for:

• Social Activities

• Daily Responsibilities

• Vacations

• Medical Appointments
States with Medical Review Boards

(D.C.)

35 states with Medical Review Boards

Special Provisions for Older Drivers

(D.C.)

24 states and D.C

 Two Important Aspects:
The Public Health Perspective
• SAFETY = Physical Well-Being, Preventing
deaths and injuries

• MOBILITY = Ability to get from one place to

another

Goal:
To help seniors stay mobile for as long as
safely possible
3 Elements of Traffic Safety

Driver
(training, screening, supplemental transportation)

Vehicle Road
(better crash protection, (senior-friendly
seat belt design, “fit” of vehicle) road design)
 The ROAD
Senior-Friendly Road Design
• Safety-oriented road design has the potential
to greatly reduce death and injury to our aging
population
– intersection improvements; better signage,
lighting, and road markings; and protected
left-turn lanes

• Improvements will ultimately protect people of

all ages
 Reader’s Digest—July 2003
Focus on Senior-friendly Road Design
 Michigan Road Improvement
Demonstration Project – Model for
Intersection Improvements
• Coordinated effort of public and private organizations

• Determined high risk intersections

• Identified needed solutions

• Evaluation yields promising results – reduced injuries by

46% and crashes by 26%

• Low-cost improvements – pavement markings; signal

timing; left-hand turn lanes
 The Left Turn!
Crashes often
occur at
intersections in
which the older
person is
attempting to
make a left-hand
turn.

D.F.Preusser et al: Fatal Crash Risk for Older Drivers at Intersections:

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: Aug.1997
 The VEHICLE
“Senior-friendly” vehicles

• Better crash protection

• Effects of emerging in-vehicle technologies

on older drivers – positive (crash avoidance
technology) and negative (distraction)

• Ensuring vehicles “fit” aging bodies

The DRIVER
 Crash Rate and Aging

The crash rate for older drivers is related to

physical and mental changes associated with
aging

 Impaired vision
 Hearing Loss
 Impaired joint mobility
 Neurologic impairment

Barbara J. Messinger-Rapport, How to assess and counsel the older driver: Cleveland
Clinic Journal of Medicine. March 2002. Slide courtesy of Gisele Wolf-Klein, MD, FACP.
 Effects of Eye Diseases on Vision

Normal Diabetic Retinopathy

Cataract Macular Degeneration

New England College of Optometry: Implication of online renewal without vision screening(05/03)
 Driving and Vision

Normal

Glaucoma Retinitis Pigmentosa

New England College of Optometry: Implication of online renewal without vision screening: May,2003
Useful Field of View ®
Cognitive Skills Critical for Driving

• Memory
• Visual perception, visual
processing, and visuospatial skills
• Selective and divided attention
• Executive skills
Trail-Making
Screening Measures - Validity & Reliability
• Visual Acuity – high contrast
• Visual Acuity – low contrast
• Useful Field of View ®
• Working Memory
• Visual Search
• Visualization of Missing Information
• Lower Limb Strength and Mobility
• Head-Neck Flexibility

Based on research on nearly 2000 drivers 55-96 years,

seniors with a decline in any of the 8 areas were 2-5
times more at-risk of being in an at-fault crash (Staplin et
al, JSR 2003)
 Roadwise Review:
A Tool to Help Seniors Drive Safely Longer

• State-of-the-Art Screening Tool developed by AAA

• CD-ROM

• Screens 8 factors
important for driving

• Developed with
TransAnalytics
INTRODUCTION
LOW CONTRAST VISUAL ACUITY
RESULTS PAGE
RESULTS
 Supplemental Transportation
Program Pilot in Pasadena
DOCUMENTATION

materials recruitment recruitment

SPONSOR PARTNERS RIDERS DRIVERS

Age 65+
the Beverly Service Pasadena Friends of
Foundation Agencies area Riders
Residents

feedback feedback rides

REIMBURSEMENT REIMBURSEMENT

Beverly Foundation and AAA Foundation project

 Supplemental Transportation
Programs (STPs)
7
6 1 2
5 4
2 10 55 4
13 5
6 4 6 5
6 6
25 1 13 9 1
2 10 4 9 5
8 1
1 8
9 8 3
1 2
2 1
11 9
2
6

4 indicates location of
“STAR” Search winners
 What’s good for
Seniors
is good for ALL of us!
 A Few Resources

AAA: www.aaapublicaffairs.com

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety:

www.seniordrivers.org

Area Agency on Aging: www.aoa.gov

AAMVA GrandDriver: www.granddriver.info

AARP: www.aarp.org/drive

American Society on Aging: www.asaging.org

Thank You!

For more information:

T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, PhD, MPH
dinhzarr@national.aaa.com
202-942-2060
www.aaapublicaffairs.com