The traffic safety community, as well as the public at large, has long recognised that older adults are at elevated risk of being killed or injured in a motor vehicle crash. The exhortation to "get the old folks off the road" is frequently heard, particularly after a well-publicised incident in which a superannuated driver is clearly at fault. This concern for the risks that older drivers face -- and pose -- is magnified by the anticipation that their numbers will increase over the coming decades. As a result of longer life spans and the ageing of the baby boom generation, the proportion of Americans age 65 and older is expected to increase by some 60 percent by the year 2030. Also anticipated is an increase in the proportion of this age group who are still driving. Though only two thirds of women age 65 and older are currently licensed, more than 90 percent of the women who will be 65 or older in 2030 now hold driver's licenses. Since women live longer than men, this change will have a disproportionate effect upon the percentage of older adults who are still driving: It is estimated that in 2030 close to 90 percent of adults age 65 and older will be drivers. The combination of these two demographic shifts will lead to an estimated total increase of more than 130 percent in the number of older drivers in the United States (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2001). While concern over older-driver safety issues remains high, in recent years concerns over the mobility of older adults also have increased. In particular, the current generation of elders has lived primarily in suburban areas and has been dependent upon the automobile for the satisfaction of its daily transportation needs. Efforts to reduce accident exposure by imposing driving restrictions on older adults have been increasingly tempered by concern for the price that is paid in loss of mobility, a trend facilitated to some extent by the ideas of the community of activists lobbying for people with disabilities. These activists have questioned the choice of safety over independence in design of services and other programs. The two goals of safety and mobility, traditionally seen in social services as antagonistic, now are being blended into a single goal of providing safe mobility for elders and others with mobility difficulties. Agencies concerned with the welfare of older adults have begun to include transportation assistance among their services. This assistance includes efforts to help those with driving problems find ways of overcoming such problems or limiting their effects on driving, as well as efforts to find alternatives to driving. Nevertheless, the risk that older drivers pose to the public will rise over the coming years as their numbers on the highways increase. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting