South Florida Driving Safety & Senior Citizens : NTSB Conference Looks at Elderly Driving and Car Accidents

Florida is home to a significant population of senior citizens -- including snowbirds who come for the balmy winters and decide to make Florida their year-round homes. Native Floridians know a good thing when they have it, and seniors who were born in Florida may never leave. Why go anywhere else when the best weather, beaches, and golf courses are right here in Florida?

What makes Florida an attractive winter and retirement destination for senior citizens means more older drivers motoring around South Florida communities and highways.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) held a two-day conference on the growing population of elderly drivers and driving safety risks. While one study shows that seniors are actually involved in fewer serious motor vehicle accidents than in years past -- the aging Baby Boomer generation means more and more seniors will be taking to the roads in the coming years.

The CDC believes car crashes involving older drivers may be down in part due to the fact that older people tend to drive less and for shorter distances. Those who are in Florida nursing homes and retirement communities may use other forms of transportation available -- while some may give up their keys willingly or when their children ask them to stop driving for safety and/or medical reasons.

The most tragic auto accidents involving senior citizen drivers in Florida and elsewhere -- those where seniors lose control of their cars and crash into people, buildings, and other vehicles, sometimes with injuries and fatalities -- tend to make the headlines. Though the statistics indicate the issue of elderly drivers and car accidents is not worsening, states want to prepare for the influx of older drivers as the Boomer generation ages -- and shows no signs of slowing down.

The NTSB says it will continue to study the issue of elderly drivers and driving safety, as individual states work on their regulations regarding licensing, driver education, and driver testing. Florida put the Florida Grand Driver education program in place for people ages 65 plus (see link below).

NTSB forum examines growing population of elderly drivers
The Washington Post Nov. 9, 2010

NTSB: Symposia on Safety Mobility and Aging Drivers

Related Web Resources

Florida Grand Driver

AAA Foundation: SeniorDrivers.org

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