Posted on March 4, 2004 at 10:37 a.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Researchers at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) report that educational programs aimed at improving driver safety among older drivers do not reduce the incidence of automobile crashes among those drivers. In a study of 403 older drivers, researchers found no difference in crash risk among those who participated in an educational safety program and those who did not. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, did show that those who participated in the safety program were more likely to alter their driving habits to avoid driving in high traffic areas, in bad weather or at night.
“Educational programs to promote safe driving practices among older drivers have become very popular,” says Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., UAB professor of ophthalmology and lead author of the paper. “However, we found no evidence that such programs actually enhance older driver safety.”
All 403 participants in the study received standard vision care, and the members of the intervention group also received the safety curriculum, individually tailored to the participants own driving needs, lifestyle and visual abilities. A health educator specializing in driver safety and gerontology delivered the sessions on a one-to-one basis.
“We did find that those who received the safety lessons were more inclined to modify their driving behavior,” says Owsley. “Modifications that were reported include curtailing the numbers of trips made, avoiding rush-hour traffic, postponing trips in inclement weather and seeking out low-traffic routes.”
Owsley says these results suggest that passive driver-safety approaches such as highway and vehicle design improvements, coupled with aggressive treatment of chronic medical conditions to reverse or slow functional decline in older adults might be more effective in improving public health and safety than educational programs.
Owsley is presenting these findings at a media briefing for the American Medical Association in New York on March 4.
This research was supported by General Motors Corporation pursuant to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Supplemental funds were provided by Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. and the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama. Owsley is a Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator.