Aging Driver Safety

Johnell Brooks was a passenger when her grandmother ran two red lights in quick succession. When Johnell spoke up, her grandmother replied: "Honey, I haven't been able to see stoplights in years. If the car in front goes, so do I." Brooks forced her family to face the fact that her grandmother, who suffered from macular degeneration, was going to hurt herself or kill someone else. When her grandmother lost her driving privileges and, thus, her independence, she blamed Johnell.


Today, years later, Dr. Johnell Brooks is working on a research project that aims to help seniors drive safer and to help them stay behind the wheel as long as they remain capable. The program is a combined effort of Clemson University and the Greenville (S.C.) Hospital System University Medical Center.


Today, millions face dual driving dangers of elderly parents and teenage children: "Aging parents to the left of me, teens to the right," is their motto. Meanwhile, seniors are petrified of the prospective loss of self-sufficiency that accompanies surrendering the car keys.


A 1996 government study said the death rate for drivers over 80 was roughly the same as that for notoriously hazardous 16 year olds, whether measured by miles driven or number of licensed drivers. The study also said those between 75 and 80 are roughly as dangerous as 17-year-olds. Other studies say that drivers over age 65 are involved in more than 6,000 fatal accidents each year. The problem will only get worse: Those over 85 are one of the fastest-growing age groups in the country. In 20 years there will be about 70 million senior citizens in the U.S. God willing, I'll be one.


A key to the research conducted by Clemson and the Greenville Hospital System is an advanced driving simulator. It assesses seniors' safety behind the wheel. However, creating a pass/fail test is far from the goal of the project. That's because pulling Granny's starter fuse or hiding Grandpa's keys is no solution. In rural areas, the lack of the ability to drive is life-threatening and even in suburbia a round trip to the grocery store may require a four-mile hike. (In our area, there are no sidewalks or smooth road shoulders, so walking is out of the question.) And public transportation is limited in either situation. Rather, the research is designed develop a program that physicians—geriatricians in particular—can use to help seniors keep driving as long as they can do it safely.


"The goal is to the help people live healthier, longer," said Dr. William Logan, a geriatrician and clinical director of Greenville Hospital System's Department of Geriatrics. "Losing the ability to drive means losing independence and the ability to live at home. This can lead to early mortality."


Relatives often look to the senior's physician to force the older person to stop driving. "That's an uncomfortable position to be in, especially since currently there's no objective way to make that assessment in the physician's office," said Dr. Logan.