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Posts Tagged ‘driving’

Dealing With the Older Driver: Driving Skills Assessments

MARCH 24, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 38

Elder Law Issues has devoted several recent weeks’ articles to some of the problems involving aging drivers. If you are concerned about your own driving skills or those of an older family member, you may wish to obtain a formal skills assessment.

The Association of Driver Rehabilitation Specialists (ADED) provides information about driving assessments and referrals to certified specialists. ADED recommends that a driving assessment include testing on visual perception, functional ability, reaction time and a road test.

Visual processing speed, an important component of safe driving, decreases as we age. The Useful Field of View (UFOV) test is a measure of visual processing speed that is increasingly touted as a reliable predictor of accident probability. Researchers at University of Alabama-Birmingham UAB have worked on UFOV for more than a decade.

UFOV is given in three parts. First, a silhouette of a car or truck flashes for less than a second on a computer screen and test takers must touch the word on the screen that corresponds to the vehicle type. Second, test takers must remember where a circular shape flashed on the screen near the vehicle. Last, they must be able to ignore a third object which appears only as a distraction.

Encouraging news: UFOV can be a training tool as well as a diagnostic instrument. According to UFOV researcher Dr. Karlene Ball, in those elderly drivers with poor visual processing skills, training with a modified version of the computer test for four to seven hours may raise visual processing speed to within normal levels.

Recovering stroke victims may wish to explore with a driving rehabilitation specialist or occupational therapist the possibility of incorporating adaptive aids. Cars can be adapted for post-stroke patients so that they accommodate the driver’s “good” side, or allow steering by a modified hand or foot control. Simple adaptations such as adding larger rear and side-view mirrors to cars may assist many drivers with decreased neck mobility.

In addition to ADED, local occupational therapists, local area agencies on aging, your state department of motor vehicles, or your physician may provide driving assessment referrals. Remember that mature driver courses are offered by a variety of organizations, the best-known of which is AARP’s Driver Safety Program. (formerly 55 Alive). Course schedules nationwide may be found on AARP’s website or by calling its toll-free line at (888)AARP-NOW. Participating in safety courses entitles older drivers to insurance discounts mandated by law in most states.

Subjects: AARP, Association of Driver Rehabilitation Specialists, driving, elderly drivers, Karlene Ball
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Older Drivers and State Laws: A Few Things to Consider

MARCH 17, 2003 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 37

Twice in October 2002, Elder-Law Issues highlighted concerns of and about older drivers. (See What Can Be Done About Driving Skills As We Age? and Dealing With Impaired Driving Skills In Aging Family Members) This week and next we continue our examination of driving and aging. If you are concerned about the driving habits of an older family member or client, or want to know what is in your own future, here are some things you should know:

a. Older persons do not automatically lose their driver’s licenses. No state has an age-based revocation of driving privileges.

b. Road tests and vision exams are rarely required to maintain a driver’s license. Only drivers 75 or older living in Illinois or New Hampshire must take a road test to renew a driver’s license.However, your state department of motor vehicles may initiate a re-examination interview and road testing upon receiving a referral from family, friends, health care or other professionals who have concerns about an unsafe driver.

A vision test is required in Maine for first license renewals, at every second license renewal until 62, and thereafter at every renewal. In Oregon, vision screening is required every eight years for drivers 50 and above. Utah requires that drivers aged 65 or older take a vision test. Arizona requires a vision test verification form to have been completed within three months of a renewal by mail for those 65 or older.

c. Physicians are not required to report functional impairments in a driver—with two exceptions: 1. Physicians with demented patients in California. 2. Physicians who diagnose or treat patients with epilepsy in California, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Although they may not be required to report impairments physicians are not ethically prohibited from reporting safety concerns.

d. Five states restrict driver’s license renewal by mail for older drivers. In Alaska, license renewal by mail is unavailable to drivers 69 or older. Arizona, California and Louisiana prohibit renewal by mail for drivers 70 and older. At 66, drivers in Colorado can no longer renew their licenses by mail.

e. 13 states have accelerated renewal periods for older drivers. Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico and Rhode Island have shorter renewal cycles for older drivers, though the cycles vary among those states. In Idaho drivers must renew their licenses every four years beginning at age 63 and no longer have the option of electing an eight-year cycle. In Illinois once a driver turns 81 she/he must renew every two years until 87. At 87 the Illinois license renewal is annual. Rhode Island drivers must renew every two years starting at age 70. At 69 Missouri drivers must renew every three years.

Subjects: driving, elderly drivers
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What Can Be Done About Driving Skills As We Age?

OCTOBER 7, 2002 VOLUME 10, NUMBER 14
Driving is an enormously important issue to our elderly (and disabled) clients, their family and friends. In the western U.S. and particularly in Tucson, transportation without a car is difficult and inconvenient. Safety of both the driver and the public is paramount, but the loss of independence and self-esteem as well as easy access to groceries and medical care must be addressed when a loved one can no longer safely drive.

There is no mandatory cut-off age for giving up driving. However, even the healthiest senior citizens experience age-related “slowing down” at some point — less flexibility in movement, a decrease in night vision, blurred vision from cataracts, hearing loss, etc. When decreased physical or psychological function cause unsafe behavior —either on the road or in other activities — driving should be suspended until that behavior is evaluated.

If one has difficulty seeing to prepare meals or cannot hear when there is loud knocking at the door, driving is likely also a hazard. All drivers, but especially seniors (who tend to take increasing amounts of medication as they age) must be attuned to the fact that many medications create hazardous driving situations. For example, allergy medications as well as drugs used to treat high blood pressure often have a strong sedative effect.

Seniors and their friends/families have many information resources. Information available online includes the AAA-sponsored website www.SeniorDrivers.org and www.la4seniors.com, both of which help in identifying and addressing driving problems. For drivers concerned about maintaining their skill levels, AARP’s “55 Alive Driver Safety Program” is taught locally at the Pima Council on Aging (enrollment is limited; contact them at 298-3120 first.)

In 1999, the American Medical Association changed its ethical guidelines so that physicians, despite their duty to keep confidences, may report a patient’s driving impairments in order to protect public safety. Physicians or family members concerned that a senior should not be driving may contact the AZ Dept of Motor Vehicles, Medical Review Program at 1452 N Eliseo C. Felix, Jr. Way, Avondale, AZ 85323 [(623) 925-5795]. Advanced age alone is insufficient; the letter of concern should detail the driver’s deficits and must contain the driver’s name, address, date of birth, and if possible the driver’s license number.

Revoking a driver’s license may not stop the impaired driver. In a future newsletter we will discuss some strategies to deal with that problem.

Subjects: 55 Alive Driver Safety Program, AARP, Department of Motor Vehicles, driving, elderly drivers, Pima Council on Aging
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