The Correlation Between Aging and Driving Ability

While driving is a function of ability and not age, some natural consequences of aging may make driving more difficult for seniors. Though everyone ages differently, the once-elementary tasks of operating a motor vehicle eventually become difficult or dangerous for many seniors to perform.

When people age, they may experience a deterioration in their abilities to react to external stimuli. Seniors have a harder time seeing or hearing road hazards as they age, and more difficulty distinguishing fast-moving shapes. Seniors also have a harder time making decisions based on these perceptions as they age, and they begin to experience difficulty gauging distance and velocity. Seniors also have slower reaction times and less stamina for long trips.

These decreased driving skills can cause real problems for senior drivers. They may have difficulty driving at night or recognizing construction zones. They may also have difficulty making left turns into traffic and gauging stopping distance. They may even swerve off the road or be unable to avoid oncoming hazards.

The consequences of these reduced abilities can be significant for senior drivers and others on the road. Senior drivers with decreased driving ability may be more prone to accidents. The injuries resulting from these accidents can be life-changing.

To ensure the safety of a senior driver in your family, it is important that you start discussing the possibility of eroding skills early on, and have a plan in place. It is also important that you communicate regularly with a senior driver, in order to be sure that their skills are still sharp and prepare them gently to adjust their driving habits as their skills deteriorate. Lastly, it is important to assess seniors’ driving skills, and make necessary adjustments if their skills are waning.

If you or a loved one have been injured in a New York car accident, it is important that you know your legal rights. Whether the injured party is a senior who got into an accident because their own driving skills were impaired, or someone who was injured by an unprepared or unskilled driver, you are entitled to compensation for injuries caused by negligent driving.

If you or someone you know has been injured in a New York car accident, it is important that you contact a Long Island car-accident attorney. An experienced lawyer can help you determine and prove fault in your car wreck claim, making a personal injury case that will help you recover damages from the accident.