A recent study shows seniors’ health suffers once they stop driving. Here’s a look at new-car features that can help older drivers remain behind the wheel. Taking away the car keys from an elderly relative not only means diminished freedom, a new study suggests the resulting distress can take a tremendous physical and emotional toll.
According to a report released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington, D.C., seniors who’ve stopped driving are nearly twice as likely to suffer from depression, with a five times greater chance of entering a longterm care facility than those who remain mobile. The report further suggests those restricted from driving exhibit an accelerated decline in cognitive abilities, diminished productivity and low participation in daily activities away from home.
“This comprehensive review of research confirmed the consequences of driving cessation in older adults,” says the AAA Foundation’s president and CEO, Peter Kissinger. “The decision to stop driving, whether voluntary or involuntary, appears to contribute to a variety of health problems for seniors, particularly depression as social circles are greatly reduced.”
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, mature drivers most often face impairments to their vision (reduced contrast sensitivity, and increased time needed to adjust to changes in light levels), cognition (memory, visual processing, attention and executive skills) and motor function (muscle strength, endurance and flexibility).
Fortunately, there’s a wide variety of features available that can help keep those with declining abilities keep driving — albeit within limits — for an extended period. Whether you’re an older car buyer or are helping an aging parent fit into a new set of wheels, experts suggest looking for a model that fits your frame, needs and budget that offers as many of the following items as possible:
Push button entry/start. Drivers with arthritic hands or diminished fine motor skills should look for cars that come with a remote pushbutton entry/start feature that eliminates ever having to use a key, as long as an encoded key fob is in one’s pocket or purse.
Heated seats and steering wheel. Even among those living in warmer climates, heated seats can help ease stiff joints or lower back pain while en route.
Digital speedometer. Seniors with vision problems should look for vehicles with a large digital speedometer readout that can be easier to spot and process at a glance than a conventional gauge.
Parking aids. Choosing a model that comes with a rearview camera and/or proximity warnings can help drivers with diminished upper body range of motion by minimizing twisting and upper body rotation while backing out of a garage or parking space.
Adaptive cruise control. This high-tech twist on familiar automotive technology enables a car to maintain both a set speed and safe distance from the traffic ahead, slowing down and speeding up automatically as necessary, with some able to operate in stop-and-go traffic.
Blind spot warning. Here, sensors or cameras alert a driver to the presence of other cars to the side and rear of the vehicle on the highway he or she might not otherwise be able to locate. Many such systems likewise issue an alert if there’s cross-traffic approaching when backing out of a garage or parking space.
Lane departure warning. Here, cameras look for lane markers at highway speeds and alert the driver if the vehicle is inadvertently veering into another line of traffic.
Forward collision mitigation. This system issues visual and audible alerts, and typically primes the brakes to full stopping power (along with other mitigation measures), if it feels the car is closing in on a vehicle or other obstruction in its path too quickly. The best systems are those that automatically apply the brakes to help avoid or lessen the effects of a crash, at high or low speeds depending on the system, if the driver isn’t responding quickly enough.
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