Visual Risk Factors for Crash Involvement in Older Drivers With Cataract

Abstract

OLDER PEOPLE are the fastest-growing group of drivers on the road, representing a larger percentage of the driving public than ever before and driving more miles per year than previous cohorts of older adults.¹ Older drivers have a higher crash rate per mile driven compared with other age groups. For every 100 000 miles driven, the crash rate of older adults is twice that of younger drivers.^1,2 Once they are involved in a crash, older drivers are more likely than younger adults to receive injuries that lead to disabling conditions or death.^3-5 Motor vehicle collision is the second most common reason for older adults' visits to emergency departments for injuries.⁶ A growing body of research has indicated that the causes of crashes by older drivers are multifactorial but largely due to driver error stemming from functional impairments, including sensory, cognitive, and physical deficits.¹ Of particular concern is vision impairment because numerous studies find links between visual problems and increased crash involvement, self-reported driving difficulty, poor driving simulator performance, and poor on-road driving.⁷