Improving Safe Mobility: An Assessment of Vehicles and Technologies among a Large Cohort of Older Drivers

Abstract

Evidence suggests that older driver safety may be improved by good vehicle maintenance, in-vehicle advanced technologies, and proper vehicle adaptations. This study explored the prevalence of several measures of vehicle maintenance and damage among older drivers through inspection of their vehicles. We also investigated the prevalence of in-vehicle technologies and aftermarket adaptations. Vehicle inspections were conducted by trained research staff using an objective, standardized procedure. This procedure, developed by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, was based on a review of inspection checklists used by automobile dealerships and the project team's expertise. The study used baseline data from vehicles of 2988 participants in the multi-site Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) study. Among this cohort, vehicles were well maintained, had little damage, and contained a range of advanced technologies but few aftermarket adaptations. Implications of study findings for occupational therapy practice are discussed.

Keywords:

• Adaptations
• aging
• occupational therapy
• traffic safety
• vehicle inspection

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.

Acknowledgments

The Longitudinal Research on Aging Drivers (LongROAD) Study is sponsored by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS) through contract #4035-51123 awarded to the Regents of the University of Michigan (D.W. Eby, PI) and a contract awarded to Columbia University (G. Li, PI). The contents of this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the funding agency. The authors thank Mr. Raul Carmona of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute for his help in gathering literature for drafting this manuscript.

About the Authors

Nicole Zanier is a Research Technician Lead in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

Lisa J. Molnar, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

David W. Eby, PhD, is a Research Professor and Head of the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

Lidia P. Kostyniuk, PhD, PE, is a Research Scientist Emerita in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

Jennifer S. Zakrajsek, MS, MPH, is a Lead Research Associate in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

Lindsay H. Ryan, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist in the Survey Research Center at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Renée M. St. Louis, MPH, is a Research Area Specialist in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI and a PhD candidate at the Monash University Accident Research Centre in Victoria, Australia.

Sergiu C. Stanciu is a Research Technician Lead in the Behavioral Sciences Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

David J. LeBlanc, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist and Head of the Engineering Systems Group at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Ann Arbor, MI.

Jacqui Smith, PhD, is a Professor of Psychology and Research Professor in the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Raymond Yung, MD, is Jeffrey B. Halter Professor of Geriatric Medicine, Director of Geriatrics Center, and Chief of the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.

Linda V. Nyquist, PhD, is a senior research associate at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center, Ann Arbor, MI.

Carolyn DiGuiseppi, MD, MPH, PhD, is Associate Dean for Faculty and Professor of Epidemiology at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO.

Guohua Li, MD, DrPH, is the Mieczyslaw Finster Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Prevention at Columbia University.

Thelma J. Mielenz, PT, PhD, MS, OCS is an Assistant Professor and the Director of Education for the Injury Control Research Center and Co-Director of EPIC in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY.

David Strogatz, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Rural Community Health within the Bassett Research Institute, Cooperstown, NY.

Additional information

Funding

This work was sponsored by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAAFTS), who had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of results. AAAFTS personnel provided comments on draft of the article.