Americans are life-long drivers. It is imperative that aging drivers remain on the road safely. This chapter addresses one strategy for achieving this end, namely the utilization of low-tech vehicle modifications for addressing challenges with driving due to functional deficits that normally occur with aging. It focuses primarily on the selection of useful features to be demonstrated in a video intervention in a research project to assess whether watching the video would increase elders' awareness of and likelihood of using the features. The features were chosen with the assistance of a panel of experts in transportation, aging, rehabilitation, and related fields plus a focus group of older drivers. Selecting the features, developing survey instruments, and producing the video constitute Phase I of the study. Phase II investigates whether watching a video would increase older drivers' awareness of such features and motivate them to use any of them. This chapter also includes an overview of Phase II and some comments with respect to high-tech features and the future of automobile travel. (Author/publisher)
Abstract