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Brayden Fox

Ms. Lahmon

Eng 1101

November 27th, 2019

Elderly Drivers; Require a Second Drivers Exam?

If you asked a group of people who the worse drivers, more than likely you will get the

answer of either teens or elderly. Teenagers tend to be poor all around when it comes to driving,

as they are distracted drivers and are reckless. On the other hand elderly drivers seem to be

unknowledgeable of other drivers on the road; usually driving at their own pace and unaware of

their surrounding environment. Although that teenagers are by far the worse drivers, elderly

drivers should still be considered a risky driving demographic. Car accident percentage to

population percentage is the highest ratio from drivers aged 16-19 of 8% to 6.5% (CDC), but the

death rates for the 75 and up is higher than drivers 15-25 (ACSH). In this essay it will be

discussed how there should be high consideration for the application of a second drivers exam, at

a set specific age. For the sake of simplicity the essay will be following Illinois’s law set at the

age of 75. Although Elderly are not the most dangerous drivers, they are the most vulnerable to

being killed in a car accident. The goal of this essay is to show the dangers for elderly drivers

and other drivers due to specific groups of elderly drivers and how the application of a second

drivers exam will decrease deaths in older ages.

Executive functioning is a very important part of everyday activities, it includes paying

attention, organizing and planning, starting task and staying focusing, managing emotions, and

keeping track of what you are doing (Understood). One of these activities that you would use

executive functioning is driver, which requires paying attention, starting task and staying focus,
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managing emotions, and keeping track of what you are doing. Based on data provided by a

research team from Toyota, executive functioning decreases as you get older and become

elderly. This research collected data from two surveys; the ECS and the DBQ survey. The ECS

studied executive functioning and DBQ studied risky driving behaviors. The ECS survey, which

“consists of 35 self-reported items (e.g., "It's often hard for me to alternate between two different

tasks") that are rated on a four-point scale (1: very false; 2: somewhat false; 3: somewhat true;

and 4: very true).” They gave this study to 38 regular elderly citizens. The results were then

divided by the total possible points that could be achieved to be able to create an index. The

same group took the DBQ survey, which had 50 questions, and had a six-point scale. This

studied extracted the behavior habits related to violations, errors and lapses. Results found that

there was negative correlations between the ECS and the DBQ sections of errors and lapses

provide information that there is a connection between lowered executive functioning and risky

drivers. Understanding that elderly drivers are having their executive function deteriorate as they

age, we can assume by the data provided by Toyota that this deterioration can effect the ability to

drive in elderly drivers. Taking the second drivers exam will be able to pick out who has had

their executive functioning deteriorate versus those that have had little or no deterioration.

When going to a grandparent’s house, we will occasionally see their medication in the

weekly container, which divided up the medication into all seven days, and usually it is several

types of medication. People 65 and up make represent 34% of prescribed medication users 30%

of over the counter medication users, but only make up 12% of the population (Medscape). West

Virginia University found that 32% of patients in the emergency room and were elderly were

found to have some sort of medication and or drug in their system. 50% of the 32% was found to

have taken opiates or benzodiazepines, all prescribed and not illegally taken. The fact that 32%
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of ER visits relating elderly drivers that got into a car accident should be alarming. This number

could go down in significant numbers if this was treated like being under the influence. Since it

is not illegal to take medication, there could be a second drivers exam that will prevent drivers

that are on mind alerting medication to stay off the road.

Elderly people are not taking medication just for the fun of it, they are taking it because

they had some problem, either physical or mental. Along with these problems sometimes comes

comorbidities; the presence of two or more chronic diseases or conditions. The University of

Naples studied the effect of having comorbidities and the risking drivers. The University studied

562 drivers that are 40 and up by using the CIRS survey. This rating scale covered 14 items

about the subjects mental and physical wellness, and had to answer questions on a five-point

scale, one being “No” and five being “Life-Threatening”. An index was created based off of the

results of the survey. It was found that the older drivers had less wrecks per capita compared to

the younger subjects. However, it was found that there was more comorbidities with the older

population than younger population. Along with that it was also found that there was a positive

relationship with comorbidities and crashes. This data points out the fact that elderly drivers

drive less compared to their younger counterparts, alluding to the point that because younger

drivers drive more, they are more likely to get into accidents. If elderly drivers were to drive

more, especially those with comorbidities, there is a chance that they could get into more car

accidents compared to the younger drivers. What could help the fact that those with

comorbidities are risky drivers is a second drivers exam. This exam will help find those with

comorbidities and make sure they are limited or not allowed to drive if needed.

The biggest thing that is noticed when you are driving around an elderly driver is their

lack of awareness for other drivers, not the entire environment, but just for other drivers. For
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example, when driving on a two lane road, elderly drivers tend to drive at a speed that is below

the speed limit, with out-concern for the other drivers. This unawareness for others was proven

by researcher Yamani Yusuke that at four-point intersections. He studied how drivers scan their

environment when going through a four-way intersection. He found that a majority of elderly

drivers only glance once, while most younger drivers glance at least twice. This difference

between one or two glances can be vital in almost any intersection when driving and could be the

difference between getting into an accident and not. In a second drivers exam, this glancing and

unawareness could be tested by the proctor and could be a deciding point between if the driver is

safe enough to be on the roads.

Just like anyone else, the elderly are almost, if not as much , as busy as their younger

counterparts and have to get from place to place. To just ban elderly people from driving would

be a disaster on them, and a lot of businesses that rely on the elderly as their main customer

demographic. The biggest reason for the argument of getting elderly off the road is because of

how elderly have the highest ratio of miles driven to injuries and deaths. This point of view goes

on to make the conclusion that elderly are poor drivers. James McKnight argues that “Rather,

elderly drivers are simply more fragile. Thus, when involved in an accident, they are more likely

to be seriously hurt.” He goes on to suggest that their should be technology improvements that

have elderly in mind, identifying at risk drivers, determining risk, and developing alternatives to

driving. In the “Identifying at risk drivers” segment, McKnight suggest that there should be

consideration for having a license renew at a set age that includes a test retake. McKnight may

go against the argument that elders may be risky drivers as a whole demographic, but agrees on

the point that there should be some review on elderly drivers. Both sides agree that there should

be some consideration on changes in technology and testing, but for different reasonings.
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From my experience, elderly drivers can be poor drivers. Elderly drivers tend to be

unaware of other drivers and tend do what they think is safe, which becomes inconvenient for

others. This self thought of what is safe can turn into becoming unsafe for others, including self-

priority at intersections and changing into lanes with drivers right next to them. These

experiences are not as common as it may seem, but when they do happen, it tends to be more

common with older drivers compared to any demographic. To help with making sure elderly

drivers are aware of their surroundings, as stated before, is to have a second drivers exam. This

will help factor out the risky elderly drivers versus the non-risky.

It can be argued that elderly drivers are either dangerous drivers to either themselves or

others. What can be agreed though is that one way to decrease the accidents, deaths and injuries

is through requiring a second drivers exam. Through studies that prove deteriorating executive

functioning, medication use, having comorbidities, lack of awareness and being weaker

physically being connected to both elderly drivers and accidents that include injuries and death,

is enough evidence that there should be a further look into this particular demographic and

potential changes could be made. The easiest change that could be applied very quickly is the

application of a second drivers exam for drivers 75 and up. If the drivers are fit to be able to

drive now, there should be no argument against why this application will be detrimental to this

set of drivers. This new rule will help get risky drivers off the road and make accidents and

deaths decrease among all types of drivers.

Work Cited
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American Public Health Association “Fact Sheet: Prescription Medication Use by Older Adults”

Medscape, https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/501879

Berezow, Alex. “Most Dangerous Drivers Ranked By State, Age, Race, And Sex” American

Council of Science and Health, 2018, https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/08/10/most-

dangerous-drivers-ranked-state-age-race-and-sex-13300

Center for Disease Control and Prevention “Teen Drivers: Get the Facts” Center for Disease

Control and Prevention, 2019,

https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html

McKNIGHT, A. JAMES. "Too Old to Drive?" Issues in Science and Technology, vol. 17, no. 2,

2000, p. 63. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A71962076/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=d070cb54. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

Oxford “Comorobidity” Lexico, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/comorbidity

Papa, Michela, et al. "Comorbidities and crash involvement among younger and older drivers."

PLoS ONE, vol. 9, no. 4, 2014. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A375583741/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=9ed9b5f1. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

Rudisill, Toni M., et al. "Medication use and the risk of motor vehicle collision in West Virginia

drivers 65 years of age and older: a case-crossover study." BMC Research Notes, vol. 9,

no. 169, 2016. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A453882716/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=16cd0513. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

Sakai, Hiroyuki, et al. "Regional Frontal Gray Matter Volume Associated with Executive
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Function Capacity as a Risk Factor for Vehicle Crashes in Normal Aging Adults." PLoS

ONE, vol. 7, no. 9, 2012, p. e45920. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A498262220/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=e5181f57. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

Understood and Zelazo, Philip D “What Are Executive Functioning Skills” Understood,

https://www.understood.org/en/learning-thinking-differences/child-learning-

disabilities/executive-functioning-issues/what-is-executive-function

Yamani, Yusuke, et al. "Age-Related Differences in Vehicle Control and Eye Movement

Patterns at Intersections: Older and Middle-Aged Drivers." PLoS ONE, vol. 11, no. 10,

2016, p. e0164124. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A471861500/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=OVIC&xid=a2189dcf. Accessed 18 Nov. 2019.

Last Name, First. “Article Title” Website, Volume, Number, Year, Link

-No reference to essay

-We should, not we could

-No saying I research

-Do not say I as much

-Use: Argues, Concludes, Conducted, Illustrate