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Staggering Number Of Potentially Unsafe Elderly Drivers Still Behind Wheel, Study Warns
Daily Voice ^ | 01/08/2025 | Joe Lombardi

Posted on 01/08/2025 7:26:28 AM PST by SeekAndFind

A new study reveals a staggering number of elderly Americans experiencing cognitive decline continue to drive, raising concerns about road safety nationwide.

There are approximately 48 million licensed drivers aged 65 and older in the United States, with around 17 percent of seniors suffering from mild cognitive impairment, according to a StudyFinds.org.

This situation presents a considerable challenge in ensuring road safety while also preserving the independence of older adults.

According to an analysis conducted by researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, the healthcare system must improve its monitoring and evaluation of older adults who are still licensed to drive.

The statistics are alarming: Motor vehicle crashes involving drivers over 65 resulted in 7,480 fatalities and nearly 150,000 non-fatal injuries in 2020.

Family physicians often find themselves in a difficult position when asked to evaluate an older patient’s driving ability. Current cognitive screening tests are inadequate, and specialists also struggle with these assessments.



TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: driving; elderly
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To: pnz1

My ABSOLUTE pet peeve. Leave the damn dog at home or restrain it in a seat. And spare me with the “emotional support” stuff. If you need that much support, let somebody else drive.

/rant


61 posted on 01/08/2025 9:38:02 AM PST by jagusafr ( )
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To: Owen

An inquiry to ChatGPT

At what speed should people stop driving.

Answer: 45. Any speed above that can cause a person to age quickly.


62 posted on 01/08/2025 9:38:52 AM PST by Lazamataz (The BEST birthday present I ever got WAS DONALD TRUMP WINNING IN 2024!!!)
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To: jagusafr
My ABSOLUTE pet peeve. Leave the damn dog at home or restrain it in a seat. And spare me with the “emotional support” stuff. If you need that much support, let somebody else drive.

I have an emotional support hippopotamus. It has only killed a few people so far. I take it on flights. Don't you judge me!

63 posted on 01/08/2025 9:40:26 AM PST by Lazamataz (The BEST birthday present I ever got WAS DONALD TRUMP WINNING IN 2024!!!)
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To: CommerceComet

One of the advantages of being retired when older is when conditions are bad you don’t have to commute.

That has got to prevent a lot of accidents all by itself.


64 posted on 01/08/2025 9:40:53 AM PST by cgbg (It is time to pull the Deep State out of the mass media--like ticks from a dog.)
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To: Lazamataz

Well, you’ve always been very hip(po)...


65 posted on 01/08/2025 9:41:36 AM PST by jagusafr ( )
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To: jagusafr
Well, you’ve always been very hip(po)...

Just don't call me a RHINO.

66 posted on 01/08/2025 9:42:13 AM PST by Lazamataz (The BEST birthday present I ever got WAS DONALD TRUMP WINNING IN 2024!!!)
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To: SeekAndFind

When I die, I want to die like my grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like all the passengers in his car.


67 posted on 01/08/2025 10:14:31 AM PST by pas
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To: ridesthemiles

The concept was that you are more vulnerable to disability or death if in a wreck at 75 than if you are 24. But if you are 24, you are more likely to cause the wreck.

It’s not a silly GPT answer. Makes perfect sense.

What GPT does NOT say, but what is clearly true, is that the danger to the 78 year old driver is mostly to him or herself. Not to someone else, as is so for the 22 year old driver.


68 posted on 01/08/2025 10:34:28 AM PST by Owen
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To: SeekAndFind

I remember in high school being told to go to the grocery store with her. She had a 71 Pontiac Tempest, she was 89 give or take and just at 5’ tall. I was 16. After getting groceries she backed oou of the parking spot and backed into car. She put it in drive and started to drive away. I said Nan, you just hit that car.... she continued driving and simply said, I didn’t hit it that hard.


69 posted on 01/08/2025 10:48:24 AM PST by maddog55 (The only thing systemic in America is the left's hatred of it!)
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To: SeekAndFind

The real problem here in Houston is young illegal aliens racing around in rice-burners with blacked out windows and no tags and no insurance, no Licence, never learned to drive

Literally millions of them on the road every day.


70 posted on 01/08/2025 11:15:53 AM PST by FlyingEagle
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To: Lazamataz

I like my Rhino though the monkeys got to it first and screwed up the drivetrain.


71 posted on 01/08/2025 1:31:39 PM PST by LastDayz (A Blunt and Brazen Texan. I Will Not Be Assimilated.)
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To: ridesthemiles

RE: LIVE ALONE RURAL

Well there you go. Driving there is vastly different than driving in New York or Los Ángeles


72 posted on 01/08/2025 1:51:52 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: jagusafr
My ABSOLUTE pet peeve. Leave the damn dog at home or restrain it in a seat. And spare me with the “emotional support” stuff. If you need that much support, let somebody else drive.

Yeah, a lot of these pet owners let their pets loose in the car and it has to be VERY distracting. Just last year I got the rear bumper of my truck clipped when I was taking a left on a left green arrow because a lady was attending to her dog in the back seat and blew through her red light at the speed limit. I saw her coming and my best shot of getting out of it was to gun it. I almost made it but she got the corner of my rear bumper and tore it up pretty good.

On a side note, why did Toyota think it was a good idea to put a $1,200 piece of equipment (Blind spot monitor module) right behind the rear bumper? Sheesh. Took out the blind spot monitor and they were backordered 6 months from Toyota. No kidding, there are a LOT of rear-enders and if that happens, bye bye blind spot monitor module.
73 posted on 01/08/2025 2:28:55 PM PST by copaliscrossing (The truth is always your friend.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Seems to me that young drivers are much more Hazardous than the elderly. I wonder what the numbers are?


74 posted on 01/08/2025 6:40:29 PM PST by 55Ford
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To: pnz1

Or with the left blinker always going.


75 posted on 01/08/2025 7:26:11 PM PST by jmacusa (Liberals. Too stupid to be idiots.)
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To: ridesthemiles
NOTICE THERE IS A COMPLETE LACK OF DATA CONCERNING ILLEGALS

The article isn't about illegals, so I wouldn't expect that.

It is about unsafe elderly drivers, so I would expect some data that shows that is a significant issue (compared to other age groups,) I don't see that.

76 posted on 01/10/2025 4:12:06 PM PST by Gil4 (And the trees are all kept equal by hatchet, ax and saw)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Healthcare” Nazis-izm✖️


77 posted on 01/10/2025 4:17:18 PM PST by Varsity Flight ( "War by 🙏 the prophesies set before you." I Timothy 1:18. Nazarite warriors. 10.5.6.5 These Days)
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