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Aging and the Medically At-Risk Driver
 The motor vehicle community is charged with conducting programs to help ensure that drivers have the functional ability to drive safely. Functional impairments caused by physical or mental conditions must be identified. Driver licensing programs that can impact success in overseeing persons with such impairments include:
- Establishing standards on driver fitness and driver assessment tools
- Screening and assessing drivers
- Conducting medical review
- Restricting or "customizing" the license to allow the individual to keep driving safely, where possible, such as during daylight hours only, or within a defined radius
- Establishing renewal requirements
- Establishing partnerships with the medical community, area agencies on aging, etc.
AAMVA has established a Driver Fitness Working Group to coordinate, conduct and promote activities to better assess driver fitness and medical review, including medical conditions and older driver concerns.
While most older drivers are good drivers, the effects of aging may ultimately affect the safe driving abilities of some older adults. Once in a crash, adults age 65 plus, are far more likely to sustain fatal injuries due to physical frailty resulting from aging.
To address this growing public health issue, AAMVA has launched GrandDriver, an information and awareness campaign to educate the public about the effects of age on driving ability and to encourage drivers to make wise choices as they grow older. AAMVA is also addressing older driver issues from the driver licensing perspective, cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on several projects and working with other groups to help foster responsive and effective programs.
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