Road safety in an aging population: risk factors, assessment, interventions, and future directions

Kaarin J Anstey; Ranmalee Eramudugolla; Lesley A Ross; Nicola T Lautenschlager; Joanne Wood

doi:10.1017/S1041610216000053

Road safety in an aging population: risk factors, assessment, interventions, and future directions

Int Psychogeriatr. 2016 Mar;28(3):349-56. doi: 10.1017/S1041610216000053.

Authors

Kaarin J Anstey¹, Ranmalee Eramudugolla¹, Lesley A Ross², Nicola T Lautenschlager³, Joanne Wood⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Research on Ageing,Health and Wellbeing,The Australian National University,Canberra,Australia.
² Department of Human Development and Family Studies,The Pennsylvania State University,State College,USA.
³ Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age,Department of Psychiatry,The University of Melbourne,Melbourne,Australia.
⁴ School of Optometry and Vision ScienceandInstitute of Health and Biomedical InnovationQueensland University of Technology,Australia.

PMID: 26888735
DOI: 10.1017/S1041610216000053

Abstract

With the number of older drivers projected to increase by up to 70% over the next 20 years, preventing injury resulting from crashes involving older drivers is a significant concern for both policy-makers and clinicians. While the total number of fatal crashes per annum has steadily decreased since 2005 in Australia, the rate of fatalities has demonstrated an upward trend since 2010 in drivers aged 65 years and above (8.5 per 100,000), such that it is now on par with the fatality rate in drivers aged 17-25 years (8.0 per 100,000) (Austroads, 2015). Similar statistics are reported for the United States (NHTSA, 2012), implying there is a need for better identification of those older drivers who are unsafe and implementation of strategies that can enhance mobility while maximizing road safety.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Accidents, Traffic / prevention & control*
Age Factors
Aged
Aging*
Australia
Automobile Driving*
Cognition
Humans
Risk Assessment
Risk Factors
Safety*