Gridlock Guy: Aging impacts driving skills but families can be proactive

Driving ranks right up there with walking on the list of things we take for granted.

But wielding a multi-ton missile in an environment full of them takes plenty of mental and physical load. And while there is no denying that some abilities can decrease with age, years of driving also bring a built-in advantage.

Aging drivers and their families must be proactive to address declining abilities. Being reactive to changing driving skills puts both the driver and others in traffic at risk.

The State of Georgia’s Department of Public Health has an entire division for drivers 55 and over. And University of Georgia’s Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group provides experts and oversight on this and many other road issues.

“Nearly everybody will lose some visual acuity. Nearly everybody will lose some reaction time,” Lila Ralston, project coordinator for the UGA team told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 11Alive.

“And most people will lose some muscle mass strength and range of motion,” she said, adding that could affect how far someone can turn their head to check a blind spot.

But a simple loss in vision or motion is not the end of the road for aging drivers, Ralston said. They just need to be in tune with the changes and adjust accordingly. This may include limiting nighttime driving or driving in fast-paced situations.

Another issue many drivers may experience (and very few likely consider) is a change in their skin, which makes it more difficult to navigate touchscreens. This should be considered in the vehicles they purchase.

Then, there are health-related factors.

“Diabetes can damage your eyes,” Ralston said. “Diabetic neuropathy, nerve damage, can cause your hands and feet to be less sensitive. And that can lead to things like mistaking the brake and the gas pedal.”

Confusing the pedals has been a recurring issue in wrecks.

Cognitive decline happens unevenly, but Ralston said there are surefire signs of it.

“For a person that’s beginning to have cognitive issues, they may get confused and do something wacky,” she said.

Normally, Ralston said, a person that misses a turn would just swing around quickly and backtrack. But someone in mental decline may go way out of their way or get very confused.

Seniors and their families have plenty of tools at their fingertips. On Georgia’s public health website, the 55+ Driver Safety Program has tips for relatives of older drivers about how to talk about driving as well as self-assessment tests.

AARP also has tools, including a driver safety test that can trigger insurance discounts. Drivers of all ages should check MyCarDoesWhat.org to learn how their cars’ features work.

All of this said, older drivers’ years of experience and advanced risk assessment give them a major neck up on their younger counterparts. Maturity is best shown when people plan for adversity. A little bit of proactivity in this area can go a long way.

Doug Turnbull covers the traffic/transportation beat for WXIA-TV (11Alive). His reports appear on the 11Alive Morning News from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and on 11Alive.com. Email Doug at dturnbull@11alive.com. Subscribe to the weekly “Gridlock Guy” newsletter for the column here.