Elderly Driving Research Paper

Older drivers, over the age of sixty-five, are not only a threat to others- but to themselves. There are several ways that this can be resolved. Not all of these are particularly kind, as they would generalize the population and limit people because of something they cannot control. As people age, they tend to lose cognitive and physical capability. In some cases the drivers vision and hearing can become impaired making it more difficult to focus on what is going on around them. Their reflexes can also become slower along with their muscles weakening; Stiff joints tend to make it harder to control the wheel and turn to look around. To read more, click here. Medication can affect anyone at any age while driving, but because older people are more likely to take some form of prescription drug, even if they are perfectly healthy otherwise, they can still become impaired.

In contrast, in 2005 only eleven percent of the lethal car accidents involved people of that age. In 2030 these baby boomers will be considered a silver tsunami; according to Consumer Report's article, they will stand for one fifth of the driving aggregation. This is dangerous because although these drivers have experience, aging is not on there side as stated above.

A couple of ways that we can prevent these accidents from occurring would be to increase the awareness of elderly transportation. There is a specific bus system that brings the aged people to their desired destination. We could also have stricter license renewals. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety some states allow older drivers to take their renewal test online which typically includes a vision test. To improve this process, they should have the drivers taken on the road for a more thorough