Older adult drivers are at increased risk of road fatalities. But driving cessation is associated with a sharp decline in an older adult’s physical and mental health. This is because driving often enables older adults to participate in social and physical activities that are so integral to their ongoing well-being. Our research seeks to: (1) Develop tools that can provide accurate insight into which individuals are safe versus at-risk. There is currently zero testing of older drivers’ cognitive capacity despite ample evidence that cognitive factors can play a key role in predicting crash risk. This means that older adults are forced to make uninformed decisions about when to cease driving based on rudimentary information such as a simple eye test. (2) Provide the knowledge required to develop evidence-based interventions that can help to maintain safe driving for as long as possible in older adults identified as at-risk. 

Funding from ACT Road Safety Fund