The risk of crashes among older drivers is as high as among the very youngest drivers. Elevation of risk begins at 60 and accelerates after 75-80. A lot of research has been done into the cognitive impairment of unsafe drivers, but no previous study appears to have examined drivers with unsafe behaviour to detect possible cognitive impairment. Drivers over 65 whose licences had been suspended for moving traffic violations have been subjected to medical and neuropsychological examination. Their general health status was comparable to the control group and they did not have more sensory-motor impairments. The crash group had more diffuse abnormality, with slow waves, than the non-crash and control groups. There was lower visuospatial ability, visuospatial memory and psychomotor speed in the crash group. Reaction speeds in both study and control groups were within normal limits for the 65+ group. In conclusion, older drivers convicted of moving traffic violations had a generally lower cognitive status and specific impairments. Drivers who had crashed were particularly affected in the areas mentioned before and also had memory impairment and a lower capacity of divided attention.
Abstract