Driving Assessment and Subsequent Driving Outcome: A Prospective Study of Safe and Unsafe Healthy Driver Groups

Older drivers are an increasingly numerous section of the population who are often targeted for driving assessment. Little is known as to whether on- road driving assessments result in an older driver population who have fewer negative driving events. Fifty-eight healthy older drivers (mean age 77, range 71- 84, no diagnosis of neurological disorder), completed a non-enforced on-road driving assessment and detailed sensory-motor and cognitive testing. Self- reported and official data regarding crashes and traffic offences were collected for both the five years prior to the on-road assessment, and the 12 months following in order to determine whether those who received a Fail score on the on-road assessment had higher rates of negative driving events than those who passed (43 passed, 15 failed). No increase in adverse outcomes was found either retrospectively or prospectively for those who failed the on-road assessment. Similarly there were no significant differences in cognitive, sensory-motor, and demographic variables between those who passed and failed. Healthy older drivers who failed the on-road assessment did not show evidence of poorer driving behaviour even at the level of descriptive statistics.