Evaluating the Driving Ability of Older Adults

As a society, we have the responsibility of continuing to meet the transportation needs of a growing population of older adults. Simultaneously, we must recognize that driving is the preferred mode of travel among older citizens and that the ability to drive provides the mobility that many older adults rely on to maintain their independence. Although some older adults experience changes that make driving more difficult in later life, most older drivers retain their driving competence. With highly publicized accidents involving older drivers, however, the issue of age as a riskfactor has received considerable publicity. Therefore, recent research has focused on isolating risk factors within this population. These studies have indicated that a measure of visual attention, the Useful Field of View, is particularly promising as a functional measure of driving risk. Furthermore, research has shown that the Useful Field of View can be expanded with training. These findings have important implications for developing interventions that might aid in maintaining the skills needed to drive safely into older age.