Grant: Project Grant

With the aging population also comes an increase in age-related deficits (e.g. decreased vision, slowing of cognitive functions), as well as an increase in age-related medical conditions (i.e. cognitive impairment/dementia, Parkinson's disease, stroke), all of which can affect safe driving. These trends present a significant public health concern given that older adults are disproportionately (per mile driven) involved in collisions resulting in serious injury and death. Hence, determining the most effective means to identify and assess medically at-risk drivers is critical given the rapid growth in this segment of the driving population. Together with the Ministry of Transportation Ontario, the Societe de L'Assurance Automobile du Quebec (SAAQ) and the Saskatchewan Driving Licensing and Registration Office (SGI), this project entails the development of an online, web-based repository (e-repository) where data from comprehensive driving evaluations of medically at-risk drivers are captured and tracked accordingly. By establishing a large-scale database, we will be able to track drivers already referred to a specialized driving assessment centre in Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan and use this data to examine the referral process and the relationship between functional abilities, on-road driving performance (i.e., pass/fail), and crashes/violations (from driving records). Ultimately, we will develop evidence based tools to assess fitness to drive which will be translated into policy and practice guidelines for health care professionals and government agencies.