education >>extending safe driving years workshop
Extending Safe Driving Years Workshop, 2003.
The UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center convened the Extending Safe Driving Years Workshop on June 12, 2003, to explore the implications of the demographic fact that more older drivers are on the road than ever before, and that today's and tomorrow's older Americans will rely on the car more than any previous older generation.
The
issue
of
older
adults
and
driving
commands
attention.
By
2020,
the
population
of
Californians
over
age
65
is
projected
to
increase
by
more
than
50
percent,
totaling
over
six
million
people.
The
population
of
those
over
85
years
will
just
about
double
to
reach
almost
500,000
people.
By 2040, the
population
over
65
and
85
will
jump,
respectively,
to
ten
million
and
two
million
people.
To
meet
mobility
needs
and
to
maintain
independence,
an
increasing
proportion
of
this
population
will
want
to
drive,
or
need
to
drive.
However,
the
fatality
rate
per
mile
driven
increases
past
the
age
of
about
70.
Changing
levels
of
function
or
disease
may
decrease
the
capacity
for
safe and
comfortable
driving.
Yet
there
may
be
ways
in
which
driving
years
can
be
extended,
helping
to
prevent
problems
associated
with
driving
cessation,
like
depression,
isolation
and
disease,
while
providing
older
adults
with
a
greater
level
of
choice
about
transportation.
The
purpose
of
the
Extending
Safe
Driving
Years
workshop
was
to
highlight
UCB
research
in
this
area
of
critical
and
growing
importance,
and
then
to
explore
the
application
of
this
research
at
the
level
of
the
environment
(e.g.,
intersections,
roadways),
the
vehicle
(e.g.,
enhanced
field
of
view,
collision warning
systems),
and
the
individual
(e.g.,
training,
rehabilitation,
enhancements
to
vision
or
hearing).
The
Resource
Center
on
Aging
(RCA),
Partners
for
Advanced
Transit
and
Highways
(PATH),
Center
for
Information
Technology
Research
in
the
Interest
of
Society
(CITRIS), California
Center
for
Innovative
Transportation
(CCIT),
and
the
Institute
for
Transportation
Studies
(ITS)
were
co-sponsors.
The
workshop
also
served
as
a
response
to
the
recommendations
in
the
report
from
the California
Task
Force
on
Older
and
Adults
and
Traffic
Safety, which
calls
for
a
comprehensive
approach
to
increasing
traffic
safety
for
older
adults
through
improving
infrastructure,
vehicles,
driver
assessment,
and
training
and
rehabilitation. The Task Force has a number of publications pertinent to the topic of older driver safety.