Health Daily News

Alan Zale for the New York Times

"There are a lot of different pieces to this puzzle," said Deborah Hersman, Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, the last week sponsored a two day Forum called "security, mobility and aging drivers."

Sicher.Die treated forum topics including crash data, travel patterns, vehicle protection, highway design and driver screening and training. A webcast is on the N.T.S.B.-site archived, but woman Hersman pointed me to some of the interesting discussions and findings:

Although families endlessly about individual older drivers violate and annoy yourself and others - are rightly concerned be - as a group, older are better than you drivers used to.Anne McCartt, co-author of a recent report on older drivers insurance noted Institute for highway safety, that while deaths across the Board have deleted motorway, the decline in participation from 1997 to 2006 for drivers over 70 was much bigger - the fatal accident 37 percent – than for drivers aged 35 to 54. Police data from 13 countries also suggests that older drivers of less frequently caused crashes and those in non-fatal injuries involved only property damage. This confused experts expectations bring more old drivers on the road of to greater chaos. It is not clear why this hasn't happened. It probably has something to do with the cohort, said"Mrs Hersman. "People are more healthy, more active and active driver" – to bring less likely to crash and more likely to survive if you have do.Women cause behind the wheel to stay safe as long as you can. They tend to previously as men take their age to give up, live longer. Bonnie Dobbs, a gerontologe at the University of Alberta, pointed out that as a result, men her driving career of six years, but women of seven survive potentially limiting of their independence and mobility earlier than notwendig.Diskussionsteilnehmer it noted women more than men to passengers, not driver will used to be. or you can stop to ride because husbands are more likely, women say that you bad drivers than vice versa. (My prediction: as boomers age, this distinction will fade like an old towel.)It is not an age, when we say 'You can no longer drive', "said Mrs Hersman." "There are very individualized be."Older drivers represent a wide range of skills and levels of health pointed out with dementia concern.

Perhaps the future will look like Iowa, attention to the highly individualized way drawing is Relicenses older drivers. The country has it that young people conversely begins graduated license procedure with many limitations and gradually raises are getting older as a teenager and show that you can drive safely. with older drivers, Iowa can add constraints decline as their skills and performance.

Driver over 70 Iowa can get only two year licenses; those with progressive disabling diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease can shorter-term licenses erhalten.Jede renewal requires a vision test.

If someone - a member of the family doctor or police officer - files require a request that the State Department transportation check a driver agrees ability, and the Department, to pass it the older driver, a written test and road test and medical information.A driver that refuses retesting has suspended its license.Someone who flunks the test gets a suspension, although again the test or may take appeal.

But even if an older driver the test passes, can the auditor drive when headlights are required, or restrict mandate that he maintain lower speeds (if his vision is 20 / 70, for example, he cannot exceed 35 miles per hour), or limit the RADIUS in which he (two miles from home, maybe, or five) can go.

"Our mission is licensed to people as long as it is safe to keep", said Kim Snook, Director of the Iowa Office of driver. auditor go even to a driver's home for a road test so that he can show how qualified he can negotiate its own locale.

An insurance telephone survey 522 Iowa driver over 70, Institute for highway safety published earlier this year could less than half of their licenses without an examination on the road requires erneuern.Die 290, passed to take the road test 190 and face no restrictions, but 93 received restrictions and six lost renew their Lizenzen.So close to 20 percent of older drivers your licenses no longer drive could fully or at all to ride.

Driver said the authors largely fulfilled the restrictions, but so far there is no data to show whether limited licensing actually roads or driver of safe macht.Ein another piece of Puzzles.Stay tuned.

Paula span is the author of "when the time comes: families with aging parents share your struggles and solutions."

View the original article here