Increasing senior driver safety through vision tests and education : a community based program.

This paper reports on the correlation between driver's opinions of their driving ability generally as well as in vision based driving situations with clinical test responses for vision. It will also explore the relationship between visual sensitivity and driving behaviours such as the numbers of days per week spent driving to see if drivers adapt to be safer. The paper reports on the outcome from a detailed visual assessment. At the initial session, each driver undertook a vision assessment and responded to a questionnaire about preferred driving situations and a personal opinion of their driving skills. The results show that whilst the response for screening tests remained at a pass standard, there was a decrease in vision sensitivity in the senior drivers and that this was related to decreased comfort in some driving circumstances, such as driving in heavy traffic and speeds over 60 kilometres per hour. The physical vision response changes with age and has been found to be associated with driver reported difficulties in some driving situations. Senior drivers, who are informed of their vision status can be supported to manage their driving behaviour to support safe driving practice. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E215375.