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Keeping Older Drivers Behind the Wheel
Hugh Pickens writes "A new study shows the key role technology can play in extending the age at which people can drive safely and highlights the important psychological role that driving plays in older people's lives in contributing to feelings of independence and freedom and maintaining their quality of life. The study identified ideas for in-car information systems to help compensate for the reduction in reaction time that affects many older drivers. Specific recommendations included a head-up display on the windshield that displays road sign information based on GPS position so the driver doesn't have to keep watching the road side for information and a system to provide the driver with audible feedback on their current speed so the driver doesn't have to look at the dashboard so often. 'Our research highlights issues that have been overlooked by car designers and those advising older people on lifestyles,' says Dr Charles Musselwhite, who led the study. 'The current emphasis on developing technologies which take over part of the driving task may actually end up deterring older drivers. By contrast, better in-car information systems could help them drive safely and ensure they want to keep driving.'"
You kow, I just don't see how this will help much with people who have severely reduced reaction times/cognitive abilities in dealing with traffic.
My mom uses the sweet public transit deals that exist exclusively for seniors. We need to have those everywhere, they work great. They pick her up right at her door with a handicapped-style van with a lift, and she goes wherever she wants. Her church, her local senior center, and her medical clinic all have similar setups which she also uses. There's even a similar deal that takes her the whole 300 miles to Atlantic City when she's in the mood. Costs her way less than keeping a car, and it's a lot safer for her, as well as for the rest of us. I think it's a far better solution than encouraging her to drive, which she really cannot competently do. Until real available cars can reliably drive themselves , I say please, keep the seniors off the roads for everyone's safety. Besides, we seriously need to reduce the number of drivers on the road, not find new ways to let everyone drive!
All this just strikes me as something sponsored by the auto industry in the hopes of opening "new" markets.
Caveat Utilitor
According to the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, in 2005, over 43,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in the U.S. alone. I don't know what the number is for the entire world but it must be in the six digits. Most of them are not caused by older drivers. Traffic fatalities and injuries are a much bigger threat to the nation than terrorism. All the money being spent on terrorism should be thrown into developping a 100% automated transit system. And no, we don't need AI to do it.
a car that just drives them to their desired destination beats thousands of buttons and blips and bleeps of LED light. we need the DARPA SENIOR 65+ challenge
And the problem with driving is complicated by many, many factors. First off, you have vision problems, hearing problems, problems placing objects in space (as much cognitive as visual), memory (even short term things like cancelling a turn signal), reaction speed, fine motor skills, and the list goes on. The folks I deal with are not computer users, and their unfamiliarity with them would make the addition of GPS, warning lights, vocal instructions simply more confusing than helpful. The real solution shouldn't be keeping elderly drivers driving, but rather giving them more safe and accessible public transportation options.
It feels like everything for the past 40 years has been centered around them.
Fixed that for you.
Look grandpa might have slower reaction times but how much reaction time do you need going 12 miles an hour with a right turn signal on? I know older drivers can be a pain but you just don't see too many of 'em in accidents. They forget where their keys are I suppose.
Nearly every close call I've had in the last 8 years was cell phone related. How about we tell those damn kids (who are still on my lawn by the way) to stop texting, reading, watching movies, and fiddling around with their GPS while driving to frakin' stop that stupid crap.
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Always upgrade to the newest stable drivers. Have we learned nothing?
"Three eyes are better than one" -- Lieutenant Columbo
When they place the comfort of seniors above the safety of everyone, we have already lost.
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This is what we do in the UK - your licence expires at 70. You can get it back if you reapply - but only for three years each time. There is also checking done with your GP to be certain you are still fit to drive.
I disagree with you on the basis that the elderly are no more responsible for wrecks than teens and young adults.
U.S drivers under the age of 25 are about twice as likely to be involved in a fatal wreck and often 3-5 times more likely to be in a wreck per 1000 drivers.
I've seen some statistics from Canada as well which echo similar results.
Remember, old people don't drive well because they are impaired... Young people don't drive well because they make reckless and/or inexperienced decisions. If you want to restrict licenses, then you should probably start with not issuing licenses until the mid twenties for males and late teens to early 20s for women... It seems teen/young adult wrecks coincide pretty well with frontal lobe development... which in itself, could be labeled an impairment.
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.
That had nothing to do with her age and everything to do with her ability (or lack of it) to drive. This afternoon, I was in a parking lot when a lady started to back out in front of me, then stopped for me. I waved her on saying, "You're burning gas; I'm not." She continued, after thanking me, and said, "Backing up is scary." I'm sure it was, and not just for her, because at no time did she ever turn her head to see where she was going. At a guess, she was in her mid-30s.
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In france, people living in bordeaux can board the train and make it to their jobs in paris, 400-500 km away, just in an hour or so.
in america, people suffer 1-1.5 hours of traffic to go to their jobs downtown.
the solution is simple. more, quality mass transportation. this way you can assure that life quality and independence of older citizens never deteriorates, and also you can save younger citizens from wasting their life away in traffic.
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At this site I have leaned that open-sourcing the drivers will solve all drivers' problems.
Without any doubt, OSS community will fix all these drivers in no time.
Cars are the number one killers, both of planet and of people, and they want to keep people driving older?
The real answer is to get those older drivers off the roadways. Forget the grey panthers and require drivers over 65 to re-qualify to keep their license every 2 yrs and include a driven and reflex test as well as the usual vision test.
Old drivers aren't often in accidents, they often cause accidents. They will obliviously run a red light and cause a collision behind them while they blissfully continue on to park with their wheel up on the curb at the grocery store.