Voluntary and Involuntary Driving Cessation in Later Life

Abstract

This study explores the decision-making process of driving cessation in later life, with a focus on voluntariness. The sample included 83 former drivers from the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study. A majority of participants (83%) reportedly stopped driving by their own decision. However, many voluntary driving retirees reported external factors such as financial difficulty, anxiety about driving, or lack of access to a car as main reasons for driving cessation. These findings imply that distinction between voluntary and involuntary driving cessation is ambiguous and that factors beyond health status, including financial strain, play a role in the transition to non-driving.

Keywords:

• transportation
• disabilities
• poverty
• mobility
• driving

Acknowledgments

This article was presented at the 139th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC on November 1, 2011. The Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Study is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA026652). M. Choi and B. Mezuk are supported by award number UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health. B. Mezuk is also supported by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program (5K12-HD055881). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Research Resources or the National Institutes of Health. The authors have no financial support for research, consultantships, speakers' forums, or other holdings that might be in conflict of interest with respect to this study.