Recent news articles

From: Levitt, Dorothy levittd@erie.gov
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 3:22 PM

Hi, everyone,  I'm experimenting with searching for current news articles about older drivers.  Here are a few for your consideration.  I'll try to develop my skills in summarizing them better next time.  I got the hang of that about half way through.  So, here goes for a first effort.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nrma-stands-up-for-elderly-drivers/2007/08/19/1187462091908.html
"NRMA stands up for elderly drivers" from the Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 20, 2007

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070816/NEWS/708160349
"Frail drivers, few alternatives" from the Miami Herald Tribune, Aug 16, 2007

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070729/LIFESTYLE/707290306/1024
"Results of a Salisbury study could be critical for a nation of aging drivers"

http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?S=6943641
"Elderly driver causes accident"

This headline should be "driver with suspected dementia and alcohol use was in a crash"; this is an example of how a situation is reported with a misleading emphasis, perpetuating beliefs that prevent helpful problem-solving.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070815/LIVING01/708150316/-1/COLUMNS
"Health checkup: Older drivers", article by Dr. Stephen Ryan in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, just to the east of us!  And they included a link to our Help Network web site.

http://www.middletownjournal.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2007/07/26/hjn072607crashfolo2.html
"Car accidents involving seniors on rise in county, 45 percent of Butler County's traffic fatalities involved seniors over age of 70" by Matt Cunningham  July 26, 2007, Middletown Journal

http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/08/22/breaking-carnage-driver-on-sidewalk-at-court-and-degraw/
"Breaking Carnage: Driver on Sidewalk at Court and Degraw"
Take time to read the comments.  They are a reflection of the filters used when people learn about a crash involving an older driver.

http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/128521
"Back to (driving) school",  from Roanoke.com:  about driver rehab and some good examples of successful rehab.

And from safetylit.com :
Journal Article The effect of yellow light onset time on older and younger drivers' perception response time (PRT) and intersection behavior. Caird JK, Chisholm SL, Edwards CJ, Creaser JI. Transp Res F Traffic Psychol Behav 2007; 10(5): 383-396. Correspondence: unavailable Affiliation: Cognitive Ergonomics Research Laboratory (CERL), University of Calgary, Canada; Virginia Tech. Transportation Institute, Blacksburg, VA, USA; ITS Institute, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (jkcaird@ucal DOI: 10.1016/j.trf.2007.03.002 (Copyright © 2007, Elsevier Publishing) To understand why older drivers are over-represented in intersection crashes, this study sought to describe the intersection performance of older and younger drivers when traffic lights changed from green to yellow at the last second. Using a moderate-fidelity driving simulator, time to stop line (TSL) at yellow onset was manipulated as drivers approached intersections at 70 km/h (42 mph). Seventy-seven participants, approximately balanced for gender and age group, volunteered from the age categories of 18 to 24, 25 to 35, 55 to 64, and 65+. Driver decisions to stop or go were predicted using a logistic regression model with time to stop line as the single significant predictor. There were no age differences in perception response time (PRT). Older drivers approached intersections at a lower velocity and stopped more accurately than younger drivers. For those drivers who chose to go through the yellow light, speed profiles across the intersection and intersection clearance indicate that older drivers are more likely to be in the intersection when the light changed to red. A PRT of 1.0 s for yellow signal phasing was sufficient for all age groups.

Dorothy