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Abstract: 

When one thinks of an impaired driver, what usually comes to mind is a drunk or drugged operator or someone who is distracted due to calling or texting. In a society with an increasing older cohort (85 years and older), more drivers are driving cognitively impaired due to natural declines in attention and visuospatial skills as well as the deleterious effects of prescription medication on judgement and psychomotor skills. Donna Stressel provides background on cognitively impaired driving in the elderly population, which affects all communities and has become a serious issue in retirement states such as Florida and the Carolinas. Stressel provides insight for law enforcement, a challenge to state motor vehicle departments, and resources available to medical and traffic safety professionals.

Keywords: medical conditions and/or medications; Alzheimer’s; driver evaluation; fatal crashes rise with age; driver rehabilitation specialist; DMV Re-examination; DS-5, DS-6, DS-7

Affiliations:  1: Sunnyview Rehabilitation Hospital.