OT and Driving

The population of the United States is older than it has ever been.

And, by 2050 the older adult population (>65 years) is projected to increase another 47% (from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050). This will transform many aspects of our society—and one change we need to prepare for is:

The safety of older drivers. 

Because by 2050 the older adult population (>65 years) will make up 25% of all drivers.

You may be aware that our youngest, newly licensed drivers are the most likely to be in a crash — but it is older drivers who are more likely to be in a fatal crash.

In our featured article from JAMA gives a high-level overview of the complex driving needs of an older population — and tucked inside you’ll see OT’s role in helping to address these needs.

After we review the article, we’ll welcome one of the article’s authors Ganesh M. Babulal, PhD, OTD, MSCI, MOT, OTR/L who leads the DRIVES Project at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Through this project he is working to understand how preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD) impacts driving behavior.

1. You will be able to identify ways OTs can screen for fitness to drive.

2. You will be able to recognize the components of a comprehensive driving evaluation.

• Intro and breakdown and analysis of the journal article

  • Intro

  • Intro to Driving Safety and Older Drivers

  • Medical Impairment and Driving

  • Fitness to Drive and Driving Cessation

  • Available Safety Technologies

  • The Impact of Autonomous Vehicles

  • Intro to Ganesh M. Babulal

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs

  1. How Ganesh became interested in driving and OT

  2. How did this paper in JAMA come to be?

  3. What stands out about his paper to you?

  4. What advice do you have for screening for driver safety

  5. What considerations should OTs have for a full evaluation?

  6. What driving simulators are accessible to the average clinician?

  7. Recommendations for driving cessation?

  8. What future business models/legislation do we need?

Primary

• Addressing the complex driving needs of an aging population

Additional

• Predicting driving cessation among cognitively normal older drivers

• Navigational decision‐making among older drivers: An analysis of real‐world driving patterns

OT and Driving Supplemental Materials 

Information about increase in traffic deaths

• 2024 Progress Report on National Roadway Safety Strategy (US Dept. of Transportation)

• The Rise in US Traffic Deaths – NY Times

Duty to warn regulation about unsafe drivers

• Reporting Requirements, Confidentiality, and Legal Immunity for Physicians Who Report Medically Impaired Drivers

Driving Risk/Fitness to Drive Screens

• Self Report Driver Safety Checklist 

• Fitness-to-Drive Screening Measure Online – Short-Form (21-item) Version

• Free online driving simulator

OT’s Role in Driver Safety

• Car-fit Program

• OTs Role in Driving Rehab – AOTA

• FREE GRID Generalist Resource to Integrate Driving

• OTs Role with Driving

• OT-DORA: Occupational Therapy Driver Off-Road Assessment Battery

• OT-DORA versus GRID – Podcast

Driver Cessation 

• Car Free Me – Program for Cessation

• A Systematic Review of Effective Interventions and Strategies to Support the Transition of Older Adults From Driving to Driving Retirement/Cessation

• The 3 Rs to Support Driving Retirement (Video by Susie the Driving OT)

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Ganesh Babulal is an author of the primary journal article explored in this course. He conducts grant-funded research on driving and cognition and has no financial interest in this topic to disclose.