By Bill Corliss

Will drivers see the most important stop sign of all?  When should older people give up their licenses and no longer drive?  These questions are more important than ever since Americans are living longer and hence driving longer.  According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, one in six drivers is over 65 years old.  The challenge of keeping them—and others on the road around them—safe is a family and public responsibility.

Nobody wants to deliver the message that “you can no longer drive.” Sadly, many times the decision to take away a senior’s driving privileges is arrived at through catastrophe or near disaster. However, many preventative measures are now available.

I now drive with many clients 70 to 93 years of age.  Some have been referred by concerned family members, physicians, physical therapists, or the Office of Traffic Safety, a branch of the DMV.  In my many hours in the car working with mature drivers, I have seen the same difficulties arise again and again.  Cognitive processing—the speed with which a driver can process information and react appropriately—is an issue. Limited short-term memory makes learning or relearning a task challenging.  Older drivers also have difficulty processing cues to danger: Most have trouble filtering out unimportant visual information.  Physically, many lack hand strength to perform basic driving maneuvers and have lost the upper body flexibility required to look over the shoulder for traffic checks.

The Automobile Association of America reports that physicians, safety specialists, and law enforcement concur that improper speed, failure to do traffic checks to the rear, slow reaction to traffic conditions, and failure to respond to road signs or signals are the leading causes of crashes in the adult years.  In my experience, I have watched mature drivers struggle with busy four-way-stop intersections and how to safely turn right on a red light.  Many of the drivers are trainable, but some cannot remember new information. In terms of properly using their eyes to check for all possible dangers beforehand, I have never had an aging driver make a safe lane change unprompted!

For families struggling with the decision to terminate an older relative’s driving privileges, there is help available. The relative’s physician could be of help: Doctors are required by law to report to the DMV cases of dementia, lapses of consciousness, or other symptoms that could cause unsafe driving.  Families may request a driver re-examination of a parent, other relative or friend and have their own names kept confidential by contacting the DMV at dmv.ca.gov. and using form DS 699.

There is testing available in Visalia for evaluating the safety of a mature driver.  DASH Therapy at dashtherapy.org evaluates visual, cognitive, and physical abilities.  Also, in-car evaluations are available through my own company (corlissdrivingschool.com).  In addition, many insurance companies offer written materials as well as 55-and-over review courses.  The DMV has an excellent pamphlet “Senior Guide for Safe Driving” (DL 625), which can be downloaded in PDF format from the DMV website.

The loss of the driving privilege is devastating to mature drivers.  Yet, at times it is the best decision.  This difficult situation creates an anxious time for families as nobody wants to be the villain.  There are now many alternatives as this issue becomes more common.  The DMV estimates the number of licensed drivers age 65 or older will increase from 2.5 million to 4 million by the year 2020.

There are many safe-driving resources available online that address mature drivers, among them:

www.car-fit.org (Car Fit Program)

www.eldersafety.org (older adult driving safety)

www.seniordrivers.org (AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety)

www.aarp.org/life/drive  (older driver safety)

http://www.nhtsa.gov/Senior-Drivers (resources from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)