Understanding Driver behaviour in Older Adults
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding Driver behaviour in Older Adults
IRAS ID
292929
Contact name
Daniel Blackburn
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 13 days
Research summary
Driving safely as we get older:
Driving is a key part of maintaining independence, enabling visits to family and friends and access to local community access, especially in rural areas where public transport is less able to match the flexibility of driving one’s car.Reduced driver safety is a major contributing factor of road crashes and age-related health conditions are a growing area of concern for road safety, for drivers themselves and all other road users and pedestrians.
With life expectancy constantly increasing, the number of elderly drivers will increase proportionally (people aged over 70 represent 6% of all UK driving licences). There is no evidence that older drivers are at increased risk of traffic accidents, however age is frequently associated with medical conditions which can impact upon the ability to continue to drive safely.
Health Conditions which can affect ability to drive safely:
One condition commonly associated with ageing is Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), a state in between normal ageing and brain function and that of accelerated brain ageing and dementia. These early cognitive difficulties are usually diagnosed by assessment at NHS Memory Clinics.
Between 2008 and 2014 there has been a huge increase (682%) in people referred for assessment and in 2019 a National Audit found that on average 17% of people attending each clinic are diagnosed as having mild cognitive difficulties, for example difficulty processing information and/or making decisions quickly and accurately.People with Mild Cognitive Impairment may struggle in certain circumstances such as high-speed junctions, high-speed roundabouts and slip roads onto motorways, where drivers are required to look around and make quick decisions.
Another health problem which can impact negatively on driving safety is Parkinson’s disease. This affects approximately 145,000 people in the UK. It causes movement difficulties and sometimes tremor/shaking in the arms and legs. The symptoms fluctuate and although tablets can be very effective there can be side effects which have been called switching ON and OFF.
During ‘ON’ states the person is mobile and can move easily but during ‘OFF’ states they may have freezing episodes and not be able to move freely, or sometimes move at all. Memory and cognitive problems can develop as the disease progresses.
All of these variable symptoms and medication response may affect a person with Parkinson’s ability to drive. People with PD may be able to drive safely during ‘ON’ periods but may have ‘OFF’ periods or times when medications cause side effects when they cannot drive safely.Current methods of driver safety assessment:
Driver safety is currently usually assessed by self-reports or by medical reports, that take into account factors such as whether the person presents poor short-term memory, disorientation, movement disorders, lack of judgment and attention disorders.For those affected by cognitive impairments, detailed, time-consuming and expensive neuropsychological testing are undertaken, however the reliability of these tests in accurately predicting safety to drive is unknown.
Some people are referred by their GP or Consultant for a combination of paper tests and in car driving assessment tests at specialist driving assessment centres. The DVLA guidance divides people with Mild Cognitive Impairment into those with, “No likely driving impairment’ and those with, "Possible driving impairment".
Given the current confusing number of different methods of assessing continued safety to drive in older adults and those with health conditions, it is fundamental to investigate new means to fairly, consistently and accurately evaluate individuals’ driving safety.
REC name
London - Surrey Borders Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/PR/0583
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion