Part 1: What’s a Good Age to Quit Driving?
By Heidi Nestor
Ralph Parker, 93, mowed down a pedestrian and continued driving unaware that his victim was imbedded into his windshield. When asked by the police to explain what happened he said that the body seemed to have fallen from the sky.
86 year old, George Russell Weller, lost control of his car and crashed into the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles killing 10 people, injuring 63 others.
An 85 year old woman hit a police officer as he was pulled over to the side of the road writing a ticket for another driver. The officer was catapulted on to the roof of the woman’s car and hit the windshield before being thrown to the pavement.
These stories seem to be popping up more and more fueling the heated debate over elder driving and safety. Yet, aged related accidents may be occurring more often, not because seniors are bad drivers per se, but because there’s more of them on the road. As a generation, they are living longer while becoming increasingly more active.
Owing to healthy lifestyles, extended retirements, and magic pills that can ease any little ailment, we have become more energetic in our golden years. Gone are the days of sipping lemonade on the porch and knitting a scarf while rocking away in a chair. Today, seniors are far more adventurous as seen with former president George H.W. Bush skydiving to celebrate his 85th birthday, and 80 year old Clint Eastwood directing and acting in a new movie. As for rocking away in a chair the new “older generation” is rocking away at concerts. Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and Paul McCartney, all pushing 70, and all rocking out to sold out arenas with fans of all ages including grandparents and great-grandparents. And forget getting a knitted scarf from grandma, she’s too busy with her Yoga/Pilates core conditioning program at the senior center before getting on the net to plan her African safari trip. With seniors being so active and young at heart, it should appear that driving is as simple as walking. Perhaps, accidents with the elderly are over-rated.
The first part of this three part series discusses what the true statistics are between seniors and accidents, and should there be a cut-off age for elderly driving.
So, what is the true statistics between seniors and accidents?
Answer: It depends on who you ask. Various articles, online news sources, and even books on the topic can range from seniors causing the majority of accidents – to – drivers over 65 are the most careful and cautious people on the road.
John R. Siberski writes in, Knowing When to Break, that: “Thirteen percent of elders in the U.S. population are involved in 18% of road fatalities.” Whereas, Reed Karaim notes in, When is it Time to Quit Driving, that “…even statistics deliver a mixed message: Older drivers generally have few accidents per driver than the national average – but they have more accidents per mile of driving.” In addition, David Rosenfield, Editor for Elder Law Journal, states in, Senior Citizen Drivers, that senior citizens “have sped past teenagers as the age group with the highest number of traffic accidents per mile”, and according to the article, Making the "Key" Decision, Ron Clark adds:
- The AAA reports that almost a fifth of the fatalities on US roads in 1997 were elderly people. This is a substantial number, especially when you consider that older adults generally avoid driving at night, during rush hour, and under other high-risk conditions.
In, The Driving Dilemma: The Resource Guide for Families and Their Older Drivers, geriatric researcher Elizabeth Dugan writes that older drivers actually have relatively low rates of accidents. Could some of the confusion lie with understanding just how many older drivers are on the road? There’s an expectant rise of senior driving now that the first wave of baby boomers have reached 65. Moreover, SeniorJournal.com estimates that by 2020 there will be about 30 million elderly drivers on the road since they are the “fastest growing segment of the driving population.” And within 20 years, Karaim affirms, all of the baby boomer generation, years 1946 – 1964, will be 65 or older and still driving:
- By 2030 the 65-plus population is expected to double to 71 million and make up a quarter of U.S. drivers. By then there will be 9.5 million Americans 85-plus and almost all will have spent most of their lives driving. Many will be fully capable of remaining behind the wheel—even teaching younger drivers. Yet there is no question that drivers 85-plus have notably higher accident rates.
With more elderly drivers on the road it’s only statistically feasible that more accidents will occur thus triggering general public debates on what to do with senior drivers. This concern, says Elinor Ginzler who oversees AARP’s driving initiatives, “is going to go through the roof when that age tsunami hits us” (When is it Time to Quit Driving?).
Though we may not have a true statistical number of seniors causing accidents as of yet, one thing we do know, according to Siberski, is that “motor vehicle incidents are the leading cause of injury-related fatalities in the age group of 65 to 74 and the second-leading cause for those over 75.” Rosenfield concurs by saying:
- And because they [seniors] are more physically fragile than their younger counterparts, senior drivers are more likely to be injured in a car crash. With the exception of teenage drivers, seniors have the highest probability of death resulting from an auto-related accident of any age group.
Dugan also agrees that seniors are more likely to be injured or to die as a result of those accidents, and they recover more slowly from any injuries sustained.
So, whether senior drivers are causing the accidents or not the fatality rate is the highest among the elderly group when involved in a collision. And though there are mixed statistics on how much the elderly contributes to car accidents, one thing is certain, as the baby boomer generation ages there are going to be a lot more of them on the road.
Should there be a cut off age?
At what age do we put the breaks on elder driving? Should age have anything to do with it at all? Due to age discrimination laws, having a cut-off age for drivers seems, somewhat, not politically correct. Yet, when we start approaching the years of 60, 65, 70 and so forth, our abilities slow down; add pharmaceuticals for medical conditions and we could have a cornucopia of medications in our system causing us to inadvertently be Driving Under the Influence.
Though each state has its own regulations for issuing driver’s licenses, the truth is, once a person reaches a certain age, reflexes, audio senses, and mental faculties become weaker and slower with each passing year posing the possibility of seniors having to take an annual driver’s test.
The closest we’ve gotten to changing age limit laws for seniors is the February 2010 passing of House Bill, H4466, which combines texting and senior drivers into one legislation. Yet, this bill only requires passing a vision test or providing a vision certificate signed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist for individuals over 75 to renew a driver's license, and health care providers to report an individual’s inabilities to operate a motor vehicle safely.
Clark notes that age alone shouldn’t determine whether older drivers should be on the road and that some seniors are excellent drivers. However, he adds, “Many of the physical assets necessary for safe driving such as good vision, hearing, flexibility and reflexes—all begin to decay fairly seriously around the age of 55.” He concludes that by the time we reach 75 to 80 years old that decay accelerates.
Does age in of itself become a hazard to driving? Joe Coughlin of MIT Age Lab believes, “Birthdays don’t cause accidents – health issues do.” (When is it Time to Quit Driving?). So, healthy 80-year-olds should continue to drive? Not according to Barbara Freund, a researcher who supports age-based mandatory testing. She says, “Studies have found that almost a third of people 65 and older have some kind of cognitive impairment, and 25 to 90 percent of those people are undiagnosed” (When is it Time to Quit Driving?). Rosenfield agrees that while age alone does not determine a person's ability to operate an automobile, evidence suggests that certain characteristics associated with aging impair driving performance.”
Since mental faculties along with visual and audio abilities begin to weaken with each passing year, would licensing renewal provisions do any good? If a driver over the age of 65 must be tested every other year at the local department of motor vehicles, could this kind of provisions begin to spot a problem before the driver gets on the road? “Skills may inevitable decline,” says Karaim, “but not necessarily enough to force a driver off the road completely.”
The trend that seems to be occurring isn’t so much having seniors be tested - it’s more about having them restricted. Some states are limiting certain age groups from driving at “rush hour” times of the day and giving them a curfew so they don’t drive at night. But then most older drivers, says Professor Sandi Rosenbloom, “restrict themselves as they age, avoiding situations that make them uncomfortable…this is particularly true of women, who often stop driving while they’re still capable behind the wheel” (When is it Time to Quit Driving?). As seen with a retired canine rescue police officer who turned in her driver’s license after suffering a mild stroke at 80. Though more lucid than a 40 year old, she cites the reason being out of fear of having another stroke and being a hazard behind the wheel.
While at home seniors can depend on personal medical alerts, such as Life Alert. So if a problem occurs, like a stroke, they can get help fast with minimal damage to others. But what happens if a stroke occurs while behind the wheel?
To sum up, accurate statistics of accidents caused by senior citizens is still up to debate and remains to be determined as more seniors stay mobile. But what is certain is age in of itself isn’t the problem; it’s all that bodily wear-n-tear that comes with it that seems to be affecting the reaction time needed to be a safe driver. Federal cut-off age for drivers hasn’t been passed yet, but each individual state may be assessing their own driving requirements differently and creating state laws that meet their needs.
Part Two of Putting the Breaks on Elder Driving, will explore degenerative mental facilities, motor skills, and medications for the aging body, and how to assess any signs of a driving problem. Later, in Part Three, we will look at how to assess an elder’s driving ability, and how to have “The Talk” when it’s time to take the keys away.
Aging Brain. Webindai123.com. 2000. 9 December 2009.
Clark, Ron. “Making the 'Key' Decision.” AgeNet., Inc. 2001. November 30, 2009.
Dugan, Elizabeth. The Driving Dilemma: A complete Resource Guide for Older Drivers and Their Families. New York: Harper Collins, 2006.
Karaim, Reed. “When is it Time to Quit Driving?” November 16, 2006. AARP.org December 2009.
"Senior Citizen Drivers: Are They a Menace? Should Licensing Laws Be Tougher?" Seniorjournal.com. 9 December 2009.
Siberski, John. “Knowing When to Break Older Adults and Driving.” Aging Well. Winter 2008: 37-39.
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