Driving & Age

  • #1 cause of death among 65-74-year-olds

  • 2nd leading cause after falls among 75-84 yrs old

  • Really hard for older people to give up, as they lose a lot of independence

  • Common issues: vision, reaction times, feeling in feet, getting in and out of the car, cog defects (get lost, confused while driving), can they focus on the road, hearing, divided attention, glare, visual fields

  • Where are you going-ask the older folks frequently

  • Insurance goes up after a certain age

  • Need to know

    • Physical status

    • visual status

    • cognitive status

    • medical status

    • medications

      • why

      • recations

      • When are they driving?

  • Situations warranting driving assessments

    • confusion-lack of safety awareness

    • physical impairments

    • neomuscular weakness

    • neurological condition

    • impared vision

  • Questions for Older adults and driving

    • Are they getting lost on routes that should be familiar?

    • Have you noticed new dents or scratches to the vehicle?

    • Have they received a ticket for a driving violation?

    • Have they experienced a near-miss or crash recently?

    • Have they been advised to limit/stop driving due to a health reason?

    • Are they overwhelmed by road signs and markings while driving?

    • Are they taking any medication that might affect driving safely?

    • Have they received a ticket for impaired driving?

    • Have you noticed them speeding or driving too slowly for no reason?

    • Are they suffering from any illnesses that may affect driving skills? 

  • Primary driver rehab team

    • client

    • clients caregivers

    • Driver rhab sepaclist

    • Vehicle modifier

    • Physician

    • Case manger

  • Secondary Driving reab team

    • Generalist OT & OTA-pre drivers assesment

    • neuropshcologist

    • State licening dept

  • OT and Driving

    • Is an IADL

      • Employment

      • Indepence

      • link with society

    • OT role

      • appropriate vehicle

      • adaptive equipment

      • saftey

  • Comprehensive driver rehab eval

    • 1 pre-divers assessment

      • generalist OT

    • On the road

      • driver rehab specialist

    • Association for Driver Rehabilitation Specialists

  • Predriving tasks (preparation)

    • scarping ice off of car

    • pumping gas

    • key turning

  • On the road/behind wheel

    • Ascess driving ablities

    • vehicle type

    • adaptive equiment

    • further on & off road training

  • OT pre driver assesment

    • clinical eveal

    • predriving skills

    • chart review

    • physical mesurements

    • cognition

    • perception

  • Car Fit

    • check over car and driving ablities