'When you turn 50': Calls for older Aussies to take 'refresher' driving lessons
11/13/2024 06:24 PM
With older drivers exhibiting higher crash rates than middle-aged drivers, does Australia need to mandate more driver training later in life?
A new University of New South Wales initiative is seeking to combat the higher rate of car crashes amongst drivers over 80 by advocating for ‘refresher’ driving lessons for Australians once they turn 50.
UNSW Sydney and Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) recently completed a 12-month study to examine whether drivers over 65 would benefit from ‘driving intervention’ including lessons and feedback on their errors.
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While the study’s final results are yet to be released, early findings suggest the drivers who received the intervention “reduced their driving errors” and moved from being “unsafe to safe drivers”.
"We know that older drivers have higher rates of crashes than middle-aged drivers… and we see an uptick of crashes particularly in the over-80s," UNSW Professor Kaarin Anstey, an expert in cognitive ageing, said.
“[F]or some older drivers, they got their licence when they were 16 and they tell you they learned to drive in a paddock.
“And now the driving environments have completely changed, cars have changed, and they've never done any refresher courses."
As part of the study, Professor Anstey said researchers noticed older drivers exhibited a lot of “bad habits” carried through from their younger years.
"We see a lot of people not checking blind spots, not taking right-hand turns properly, cutting corners, or not maintaining their lane position,” Prof. Amstey explained.
In addition to the study, UNSW and NeuRA have launched a website, Ageing Well on the Road, to help them navigate topics like the changing technology in cars or how a dementia diagnosis could impact their driving abilities.
"The idea is that we need to put some effort into improving our driving and maintaining our skills, and it shouldn’t be stigmatised at all,” Prof Anstey said.
“It could be something like, when you turn 50 you’re invited to have an extra driving lesson just to check in on your driving. At the moment you'd only get that if you had something wrong with your driving. It'd be better to make it a normal part of life."
Australian licensing rules for older drivers vary by state and territory, with some requiring annual medical checks for drivers aged 70 or over, while all states and territories make it compulsory for drivers of any age to report medical conditions that could affect their driving.
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