Indian Medicine

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drivers age 70 or older seem to benefit from a driver education program that addresses common errors of older drivers, such as not following traffic signals, following too closely, making poor left turns, and inappropriately changing lanes.

"Older drivers who received classroom and on-road training significantly improved their performance on road tests and written tests compared to controls who did not receive the training," said study chief Dr. Richard A. Marottoli of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.

The number of older drivers is expected to increase significantly in the coming years and motor vehicle crashes are among the top causes of accidental injury and death among people age 65 and older.

Marottoli and colleagues randomly assigned 126 drivers, 70 years or older, who had poor or fair performance on driving tests to no intervention (the control group) or to 8 hours of classroom driver education based in part on the AAA Driver Improvement Program, plus 2 hours of behind-the-wheel training.

The investigators report in The Journal of Gerontology that subjects who completed the driver re-education course showed statistically significant improvement in their written test and post-course road test.

The level of improvement seen in the on-road test was equal a 9.5-percent decrease in crash risk, Marottoli and colleagues estimate.

Overall, the subjects in the driver education group reported that they enjoyed the sessions and found the content beneficial to their driving practices.

Elderly individuals who lose their ability to drive are at increased risk of depression and isolation. "Our findings are encouraging," Marottoli told Reuters Health, "demonstrating that a relatively easy to implement intervention can enhance driving performance, potentially prolonging safe driving years, and help maintain activity levels and out-of-home mobility."

SOURCE: The Journal of Gerontology, October 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.