Auto accidents are the second leading cause of injury-related mortality among people 65 and older. “It is everyone’s responsibility to identify and assist a mentally impaired driver,” she said.
Another birthday coming up for an elderly loved one? It may be time to evaluate their driving skills, especially in Houston.
A recent article in the Claims Journal, titled “Police, Doctors Receive Elder Driver Assessment Training,” describes an educational program called Training, Research and Education for Driving Safety (TREDS). The program is designed to reduce the number of fatalities involving older drivers and to extend the time seniors can drive safely.
The program’s focus is to educate people about the effects of aging on driving skills and the need to assess older people for driving impairments. TREDS teaches physicians about conditions and medications that can impact a person’s ability to drive safely, regardless of age.
TREDS would like to see doctors assessing their patients for age-related driving impairments. These can include problems with their vision, mobility, and dementia. The program will give these patients information on necessary medications that have fewer driving-related side effects.
Auto accidents rank second in causes of injury-related deaths in people age 65 and older. The original article estimates that one in five drivers in the U.S. will be age 65 or older by 2030. That’s twice the number of seniors in 2010—roughly 70 million in 2030.
Although some seniors can drive safely into their eighties and beyond, a person’s crash rate per mile driven starts to increase when they reach age 70. By their 80s, senior men are as dangerous behind the wheel (in terms of driving fatalities per mile driven) as teenage males.
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Reference: Claims Journal (November 7, 2014) “Police, Doctors Receive Elder Driver Assessment Training”