Promoting Older Driver Safety: Guide for State Practices (2023)

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1   C H A P T E R 1 1.1 Problem Statement In 2019, over 54 million people in the United States were age 65 and older, which represents 16.5 percent of the total population. This number will rise as the baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) grow older; nearly one in four Americans will be at least 65 by 2060 (U.S. Census Bureau 2020). Today’s older adults are not only living longer; they are continuing to drive longer than any generation in history. Research conducted by American Automobile Association (AAA) suggests older adults can expect to outlive their ability to drive safely by seven to 10 years. In general, older adults engage in safer driving behaviors more than other age groups, including wearing seat belts more often, ceasing to drive at night or during rush hours, limiting their driving to familiar roads and routes, and driving sober. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they are more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a crash due to the fragility brought on by the normal aging process. Their risk of injury or death in a traffic crash increases as they age due to increasing frailty and underlying health problems. In 2020, more than 6,000 older adults (aged 65+) were killed in traffic crashes, which means, on average, nearly 18 older adults died each day. While older adults comprised 16 percent of the total population, they accounted for 17 percent of the total nationwide traffic fatalities in 2020 (see Figure 1), a figure that went down from 20 percent in 2019. State Highway Safety Offices (SHSO) are charged with improving safety for all road users, and managing and overseeing the implementation of solutions that address behavioral safety needs. These offices develop, promote, and coordinate traffic safety initiatives designed to reduce traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities on all roads. To help guide SHSOs, the NHTSA, the federal agency charged with overseeing these offices and the agency that provides most of their funding, developed a series of Highway Safety Program Guidelines that offer a framework for a balanced highway safety program. In 2014, NHTSA released Highway Safety Program Guideline No. 13, Older Driver Safety, which states the SHSO “highway safety program should include a com- prehensive older driver safety program that aims to reduce older driver crashes, fatalities, and injuries.” Prior to this research, it was unclear to what extent SHSOs address NHTSA Highway Safety Guideline No. 13, Older Driver Safety, or whether they are preparing to meet the increased challenges of the older driver population in the future. As part of this project, the research team developed this guide to assist SHSOs to enhance their older driver safety efforts based on Highway Safety Program Guideline No. 13, Older Driver Safety. 1.2 Research Approach The outcome of this research was the development of a guide for SHSOs with tools, policy alternatives, educational strategies, and messages to enhance their efforts to improve older driver safety. The research team approached this work from two perspectives: what the research Background

2 Promoting Older Driver Safety: Guide for State Practices indicates is effective in improving traffic safety for older drivers and what will work for a SHSO. Specific tasks included a survey of SHSOs; in-depth interviews with four SHSOs that have an active older driver safety program and five SHSOs with a less active program; and an extensive literature search. These tasks led to the identification of lessons learned and effective strategies and actions, resource allocation methods, and information on targeted safety behavior messages, educational materials, and outreach programs. While the focus of the research was on whether SHSOs were implementing Highway Safety Guideline No. 13, several states follow the guideline with some or no SHSO financial support. California, for instance, requires in-person license renewal for seniors, has a Medical Advisory Board and Senior Driver Ombudsman, develops and distributes materials on older driver safety to a variety of stakeholders, and has an ongoing program to evaluate older driver safety efforts. California also has a coordinated program with state safety engineers to improve older driver safety and a cross-agency collaboration through the Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) focused on collisions involving aging drivers (ages 65+). These activities are accomplished with- out grant support from the Office of Traffic Safety. Florida also has a robust older driver safety program managed by a different office within the department of transportation (DOT), but the Safety Office does provide grant support. Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Data (FARS 2022). 17% 20% 19% 18%18% 18%17%17% 17% 17%17% 20202019201820172016201520142013201220112010 Figure 1. Percent of age 65 and older population fatalities in the United States (2010–2020).