Florida Vision Test Works To Reduce Elderly Deaths On The Road
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It was almost five years ago now that Florida changed its law to require elderly drivers, age 80 and above, to have their vision tested before they renew their drivers license.
It turns out that was a good idea. Requiring drivers 80 and older to pass a vision test for license renewal had reduced the numbers of deaths for drivers 80 or older by 17 percent after the law was first passed in January 2004.
Researchers from the University of Alabama analyzed data on auto accidents resulting in death from 2001 to 2006 among all Florida drivers. They then compared those rates to the deaths in auto accident in neighboring Alabama and Georgia. Neither state requires vision tests for the elderly.
What was amazing was that 93 percent of elderly drivers were able to renew their license while 7 percent didn't. It's possible that those with very bad vision, didn't even go to renew.
And for the overall population, the death rate actually rose 6 percent during the time of the study.
Aging baby boomers will be the next major segment of the population that can learn some lessons from this study. You can see the study, The Impact of a Vision Screening Law on Older Driver Fatality Rates, is published in the November 11 issue of the Archives of Ophthalmology.
Expect to see other states follow suit. Anything that works to reduce traffic deaths is a success, even if we don't exactly know why.