Although safety issues involving older drivers have long been a focus for the disciplines of injury prevention and highway safety, the question of how best to deal with risks posed by older drivers has not been resolved. Problems remain, from a policy perspective, with how to balance the legitimate and compelling interests of mobility and independence of older people against the risk to the public of a possibly safety-compromised driver. While there is a fair amount of uniformity across the states in legislation regarding older drivers, license renewal laws do vary and efforts have been made to evaluate how the different policies affect risk. Other countries, particularly developed nations with high numbers of licensed drivers and advanced highway systems, are facing many of the same issues as the United States concerning older drivers. The manner in which these nations are addressing the issues can cast new light on how this country should approach the problem. But little or no international, comparative policy analysis has been accomplished regarding older drivers and safety. This project, in part, will provide a systematic review of the policies, programs and practices of other nations regarding older drivers, and an analysis of whether those policies, programs and practices might provide the United States with additional options for addressing this topic. It will also specifically examine whether a policy of staged licensing curtailment for older drivers – analogous to graduated licensing for younger drivers – would be appropriate and effective. Policy recommendations will be developed and widespread dissemination of study findings is planned.
Key Words: Older Drivers, Driver Licensing, Motor Vehicles, Mobility, Translation, Policy
“Being so close to Maryland, I knew Johns Hopkins was a great hospital but I never knew it had the same caliber of researchers until we started to work with the team from the Injury Center,” said Steve Austin, past-president of the Delaware Volunteer Fire Association (DVFA).
