Resources for managing older driver safety

Background

The National Road Safety Action Plan 2023-25 identifies vulnerable road users as a priority for action, and older road users as a key vulnerable demographic with a high risk of road fatality and injury. Crash and fatality risk are higher in older adults due to frailty and other age-related issues. The greatest increases in the driving population are now seen in those aged over 64 years, and the rate of traffic-related deaths is now higher in older drivers than in younger drivers. 

Driving is important for older adults to remain active, independent, and mobile. Premature driving cessation is associated with social isolation, depression, morbidity, and mortality. There are limited resources, education, or systems to support safety for older drivers, and to assess older driver skill level and safety. To date, much of the safe driving education, resources and systems have focused on young drivers, with positive effects on fatality rates in this group. 

Currently, older driver safety is managed via a number of factors including using license restriction or revocation, with decision aids to guide clinical judgement or education on cessation and alternative transport. The introduction of effective screening and evidence-based interventions to improve older driver skills and safety has the potential to significantly impact deaths and serious injury in this group.

Objectives

This research will engage older drivers, clinicians, road safety practitioners and policy makers to evaluate and implement more objective tools and proactive solutions to managing older driver safety to enhance national approaches to road user education.

This project aims to meet the following objectives:

• Identify key practice needs and knowledge gaps.
• Co-develop a measure for evaluating the impact of resources on users' knowledge and competence to manage driver safety.
• Identify barriers and facilitators to resource uptake, and models of sustainability.
• Adapt the resources to address these barriers for use and sustainability.
• Evaluate the effect of the resources on users' knowledge and competence in managing driver safety.

Project outputs

The project will contribute to the delivery of an accessible set of evidence-based driver safety resources that have been evaluated and shown to impact knowledge and competence among road safety practitioners and drivers:

• Multi-domain model of older driver safety (Multi-D app): a rapid screening test that objectively and accurately predicts older drivers at risk of unsafe driving
• On-road driver assessment protocol and training package (ORDOM): a reliable method of on-road assessment to identify on-road skill deficits for remediation
• Better Drive package: a training program that improves driving skill and safety in older drivers to support occupational therapists and driving instructors in managing older driver safety.
• An assessment tool for evaluating ageing and driver safety knowledge and competency.
• Other educational resources for older drivers, general practitioners, occupational therapists and driving instructors, such as training videos, e-learning modules, webtools, and user manuals.

Further updates will be provided as this project progresses.

This research is funded by the National Road Safety Action Grants Program.