The Clearinghouse for Older Road User Safety (ChORUS) is celebrating Older Americans Month this May. A recent health study has identified that continued community participation is key to healthy aging.1 To support family members and caregivers during Older Americans Month, ChORUS is sharing several resources to help older Americans stay active in their community.
The number of older drivers is on the rise. When it comes to driving, it is important to understand the impact age-related changes can have on your safe-driving ability. A need to change driving habits should never be based on age alone but on cognitive, visual, and physical changes. If you notice changes in your vision, physical fitness, attention, or ability to quickly react, it’s important to understand how this may impact your ability to drive safely.
We encourage family members and caregivers to work with the older drivers in their lives to plan for transportation in order to be safe as they remain active in their communities. ChORUS created a Transportation Planning Tool to help. The tool only takes 2 minutes to complete answering 13 yes or no questions and will create a personalized list of suggestions for older drivers based on the answers provided. This tool will remind the older driver to schedule a retest in a year and encourages safer people, safer roads, and safer vehicles. As part of planning for the road ahead, older drivers can find alternative transportation and other support for older drivers in their community using information and guides from RoadSafeSeniors.org.
ChORUS also created resources such as GIFs for older drivers to use on social media and their personal websites, suggested social media messages to share with your family and friends, and shareable infographics to help your family and friends understand the importance of driving safely