# Presentation: 918376

## Presentation by Kathryn Swanson WHCOA Listening Session

- On behalf of the
- Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA)
- January 8, 2005

## GHSA:  Who Are We, and Why Do         We Care About Aging?

- Non-profit association representing state highway safety agencies
- Highway Safety Act of 1966
- State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) focus on improving roadway safety by changing driver behavior
- Goal:  Reduce the number of fatal and serious injury crashes that happen each year

## GHSA:  Why Do We Care About Aging?

- SHSOs conduct a wide array of traffic safety programs
- Science-based, data-driven, problem identification
- Address current problems (alcohol-impaired driving, lack of seat belt use, young drivers)
- Focus on target populations (motorcyclists, child passenger safety)
- Anticipate potential/emerging problem areas (road rage, older drivers)

## Older Driver “Problem”

- Current status:
- Number of older drivers in crashes is not as large as other target populations
- Due to their frailty, the injuries older people receive in crashes tend to be more severe
- Most older drivers set their own appropriate limits and curtail their driving if their skills diminish

## Older Driver “Problem”

- Emerging issue:
- Older people are driving longer
- Number of older drivers will double over next thirty years
- Different drivers age differently
- “One size fits all” scheme (such as frequent testing after specific age) may not be appropriate
- How can we craft good public policy for aging drivers that balances safety and mobility?

## Effective Countermeasures	

- Roadway countermeasures
- Better designed, larger signs; advanced warning signs
- Re-engineered intersections
- Enhanced lighting
- Raised and reflective pavement markings
- These countermeasures are in the domain of the roadway engineers and would improve roadway safety for all road users.

## Effective Countermeasures	

- Vehicle countermeasures
- Better dashboard design
- Enhanced seat belt design
- More “pedestrian friendly” vehicle exteriors
- These countermeasures are in the domain of vehicle design (auto manufacturers and NHTSA) and would improve safety for all road users.

## Effective Countermeasures	

- Driver countermeasures
- Re-testing?
- Age limits for driving?
- Public information campaigns?
- Enforcement programs?
- These countermeasures are in the domain of DMVs and SHSOs, but are untested and (sometimes) viewed as discriminatory.

## Local Roles with Older Drivers

- Meet mobility needs of all residents
- Examine local crash data and respond appropriately
- Encourage entire community to take responsibility for safe roads

## State Roles with Older Drivers

- DMVs play lead role at state level with testing and license renewal
- SHSOs can play a supportive role
- Crash data analysis
- Program delivery

## Federal Roles with Older Drivers

- Evaluate existing programs
- Mandatory physician reporting laws in five states (CA, DE, NJ, OR, and PA)
- Medical Advisory Boards (MABs)
- Restricted licenses
- Older driver training programs

## Federal Roles with Older Drivers

- Identify and encourage best practices
- Look at “medical fitness to drive” broadly
- AMA guidelines for physicians
- NHTSA law enforcement cues brochure
- MABS
- Model guidelines and authorizing legislation
- Training for MAB members

## Federal Roles with Older Drivers

- Develop training programs and public information materials
- NHTSA law enforcement cues brochures
- Physician training programs
- Model driver screening and evaluation program

## Federal Roles with Older Drivers

- Investigate additional options
- Graduated de-licensing
- Immunity for people who report older drivers
- Public education materials that take stigma out of reporting family member
- Encourage DMVs to allow restricted licenses; evaluate effectiveness of such licenses

## Federal Roles with Older Drivers

- Investigate additional options (continued)
- Vehicle adaptations for older drivers
- Community referral services for counseling and identification of alternative transportation
- Accelerate efforts to develop and test  procedures for screening and assessing medical fitness to drive

## Federal, State, Local Collaboration

- Federal government should conduct research,  disseminate results to states, develop model laws and programs, identify and disseminate best practices, provide outreach to relevant national organizations
- Federal government should work with state DMVs to set up appropriate systems at state level.
- DMVs should set up systems to identify, evaluate, and provide remedial services for older drivers

## Federal, State, Local Collaboration

- SHSOs should support DMVs with law enforcement training, strategic communications on older driver issues
- SHSOs should encourage their local grantees to identify the role older drivers play in the local crash scene
- Communities should be encouraged to form multi-disciplinary task forces to address older driver issues

## What is the Role for	WHCOA?

- Safety and mobility: doesn’t have to be an “either/or” proposition
- Focus on the safe transportation of older persons
- Focus on safe roads for all road users
- Make recommendations for federal, state, and local governments

## For more information	

- www.ghsa.org  (state law info.)
- 202-789-0942
- bharsha@ghsa.org