Lindsey Smith Ms. Cools- Stephens November 2012 Should Elderly be on the Roads?

Taking a left onto Flamingo Drive off of U.S. 41, Howard DeMask's 2003 Buick Century collided with a motorcycle, driven by Timothy Mohammed Soliman, age 22, sending Soliman to the hospital in critical condition. DeMask didn't see him coming. "It happened so fast," he said. "I looked out on the street and there was a fella laying there. I thought, 'how did this guy get here?' Howard DeMask is a 100 year old man; his family doesn't worry about him navigating the area's familiar roads because his driving record in Florida is spotless. The last time he took a vision test, he passed it on the first try. He had never had any problems before. But that Tuesday afternoon, that changed. (Valentine) Because Florida has a lot of seniors, it has maintained a high rate of senior crash deaths. State statistics from the most recent records in 2010, show that 442 crash fatalities of all ages involved drivers aged 65 and older - about 15 percent of all fatal crashes. (Turnbell) So the question arises, should elderly be allowed to drive? What limits should there be for the allowance of seniors to drive? Elderly driving has become a safety hazard because of some of the medication or handicaps found in many older drivers, causing more risk for themselves and other drivers by being on the road. So, there needs to be a cut off where it is decided when elderly should hang up their keys. There has been much debate over this topic for many years because there are so many different qualifications and exceptions to the terms, but for the sake of this argument, the two

sides will be mainly for those that either absolutely should not drive and those who are totally fine to drive. For the latter, there are many people who believe that the elderly should certainly be allowed to drive on their own. The arguments that they put forth include: that driving will keep their minds active, that loss transportation can make it much harder for them and that for the issue of vision, there are some measures, such as corrective lenses or cataract surgery, that can be taken that will improve the driving skills and allow them to be on the road. Some say that driving helps older adults stay mobile and independent. Keeping an active mind suggests that the elderly can help delay the onset of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimers and dementia. Maintaining a certain level of mental stimulation is important to the elderly because it allows them to exercise their minds and pursue their interest in particular activities. They would also argue that an issue with taking away the elders licenses is that they would have no way to get around. If there is no public transportation available, or if they do not feel comfortable with public transit, they can find rides in other ways, such as taxis, private elderly buses, or family members. But though they can find alternative means of transportation, these alternatives may be more limiting than one's own car. The operation of a private vehicle is essential to life in many places, especially to one's independence. After the loss of their license, an elderly person may be forced to make major lifestyle changes. Catram on Studymode.com says: Many elderly drivers make up for their deficits by limiting their driving in order to avoid intensive traffic patterns, by driving fewer miles, limiting trips to cover shorter distances and by avoiding driving during twilight or bad weather. Likewise, they are more cautious, drive slower and take fewer risks.

They would also argue against the case of vision. Seeing as how vision is a key part to being able to drive, this has become part of the debate as to how this can be properly tested. As is shown in the beginning though, the 100 year old man, who had passed all of the vision tests had unfortunately not seen the motorcyclist and wound up ending a life. But for some to most of the elderly, corrective lenses will improve the ability of the individual to safely operate a motor vehicle, which can tremendously advance the problem. However, many would argue that the majority of elderly people should not be on the road. As the body gets older, certain functions that used to be crystal clear start to weaken and become harder to manage, such as vision, hearing, reaction time, and overall brain function. Vision, the ability to see, is probably one of the main utilities needed to be able to drive properly. Vision declines with age, so depth perception and the ability to judge the speed of oncoming traffic becomes more difficult. Also, as the eyes begin to degenerate, they gradually lose the ability to process light, which makes night vision worse and causes more sensitivity to bright sunlight. It has been predicted that by age 60, to be expected to drive safely when it is dark, the average person needs to have about three times the amount of light to see properly, than what they needed to have at age 20. (TBNweekly) After vision, another major debate issue is hearing loss. This can seriously affect driving patterns. Approximately one-third of adults over age 65 are hearing-impaired. Hearing loss that comes with age happens progressively, so it is very possible that a senior may not recognize that they are missing important alarms when driving, including honking or emergency sirens. (Montesi) It is also argued that limited mobility and increased reaction time greatly affect elderly driving. A full range of motion is crucial on the road. In addition, chronic conditions can limit

mobility, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, sleep apnea, heart disease, or diabetes. Mary Thatcher, a freelance writer with a BA from the University of Arizona stated: Ever since moving to Florida, one thing I have discovered on the roads down here, is that the reflexes of the elderly are not as quick as when they were young, compounded to the fact that many times, they cannot pull off the roads quickly enough, around a corner, into a parking lot, or anywhere else. What she is saying here is that, from moving down here to Florida from Arizona, she has seen the increase of seniors because of the desire to locate here for retirement and has noticed how unaware or incapable many of them are to be driving on the roads with so many other people. After limited mobility, comes the area of medication. Doctors even admit that medications can cause serious impediment while driving. Even if the brain is healthy and the heart is steady, medications can alter these functions along with others that may cause damage and even fatalities while driving. People often take more medications as they age. Certain medications, as well as a combination of medications and alcohol, can increase driving risk. Elderly need to be aware and cautious about medication side-effects and interactions between medications. In addition, certain prescription drugs cause drowsiness. Drowsiness is affected both by medications, as well as, when aging, sleeping can become more difficult, resulting in daytime tiredness and an increased tendency to doze off during the day while driving. Mental impairment, although can be very affected by medication, can also be affected by dementia or brain impairment. Mental impairment or dementia makes driving more dangerous and more frustrating. Brain impairment may cause delayed reactions to sudden

or confusing situations on the road. Dementia causes serious memory, personality, and behavioral problems that the person often cannot recognize. Someone with dementia may at first remember how to operate the car and how to travel to familiar places but at some point, as the disease progresses, their driving abilities do become impaired. Unfortunately, people with dementia often cannot recognize when they should no longer drive. Elderly drivers are at higher risk of injury and death when involved in a crash because they are least likely to withstand trauma. An average of 500 older adults are injured every day in crashes. In two-vehicle fatal crashes involving an older driver and a younger driver, the vehicle driven by the older person was nearly twice as likely to be the one that was struck 58% and 35%, respectively (Older Population). However, with both sides of this argument, there are some similar qualities. On both sides there is an obvious extreme to the claims and cases, so there needs to be a place in the middle that provides the necessary tests to either claim that the elder is still healthy and allowed to drive or to say that there is a major issue that makes driving unsafe. Deficit screening should be given to all drivers that have age-related decline. Theyre actions must be suspected and their performance must be viewed as a safety concern for themselves and other motorists. If there is cause for concern, in any way, there should be administered a test that goes through each heath area: vision, hearing, critical thinking, reaction time, etc. Health professionals and others who work with older populations could administer the tests. As part of the screening and testing, if there is any question that there should be further measures, they could be administered to the safety classes for older drivers that AARP provides. Screening could become a part of the regular process of license renewal.

Another safety precaution that would be helpful is more updated crash statistics. The stats can be noted by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and insurance company records can help identify high-risk older drivers. In addition to crash counts, the details of the crash including the roadway condition, the time of day, the location, and the fault, are important. Some crash patterns may be better predictors of future crashes than others. Given that many older drivers involved in crashes have never had a crash before and may not have another one during the following year, crash records will identify only a few high-risk older drivers. Crash statistics are an important part of the solution to identify high-risk older drivers. The pros and cons of elderly driving are both very reasonable arguments. But it is important to weigh the penalties that might happen if nothing is done to change the standards of todays licensing. If nothing is done, then there will be more unsafe elderly drivers that might cause many more pointless deaths and could be avoided.

CITATIONS "Older Adult Drivers: Get the Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Mar. 2011. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.cdc.gov/Motorvehiclesafety/Older_Adult_Drivers/adultdrivers_factsheet.html>.

"Older Population: Driving Facts." Traffic Safety Facts. NHTSA, n.d. Web. <http://wwwnrd.nhtsa.dot.gov>.

Turnbell, Michael, Diane C. Lade, and Dana Williams. "Fatal Crashes Involving Senior Drivers Renew Debate over Licensing, Testing Requirements." Sun Sentinel. N.p., 20 Mar. 2012. Web. <http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-03-20/news/fl-older-driver-retesting20120320_1_report-risky-drivers-older-drivers-senior-drivers>.

Lade, Diane C. "Florida Leads Nation in Number of Senior Citizens Killed in Traffic Accidents." Sun Sentinel. N.p., 23 Feb. 2012. Web. <http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-0223/news/fl-senior-driver-deaths-report-20120223_1_senior-drivers-older-driver-francarlin-rogers>.

Catram. "Should the Elderly Be Allowed to Drive?" StudyMode.com. 12 2005. 12 2005 <http://www.studymode.com/essays/Elderly-Allowed-Drive-75342.html>.

Montesi, Sue. Driving Miss Daisy Is Not like Driving Yourself. Www.delta.edu. Dean of

Learning Centers and Innovative Programs, n.d. Web. <http://www.delta.edu/PDFFiles/LifeLongLearning/50/Driving%20Yourself.pdf>.

"Senior Citizen Driving New Port Richey FL." TBNweekly. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://local.tbnweekly.com/Senior_Citizen_Driving_New_Port_Richey_FL-r1283851New_Port_Richey_FL.html>.

Valentine, Danny. "Motorcyclist, 100-year-old Driver Collide." Tampa Bay Times. N.p., n.d. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/motorcyclist-100-yearold-driver-collide/1223456>. "To Drive Or Not To Drive - Senior Health, Aging, Elder Care, and Health Conditions on MedicineNet.com." MedicineNet. MedicineNet, n.d. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=23071>.

"Older Drivers, Elderly Driving, Seniors at the Wheel." Older Drivers, Elderly Driving, Seniors at the Wheel. SmartMotorist, n.d. Web. Dec. 2012. <http://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/older-drivers-elderlydriving-seniors-at-the-wheel.html>.