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.
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.
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