Society needs to do a better job helping seniors drive for as long as is safe and helping them adapt when the time comes to stop, says a new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The journal suggested the already pressing problem is going to become even more difficult in the coming decade or two as the massive baby boom generation hits this stage in life. By 2025, one in every four Canadians will be 65 or older, noted the editorial, published in Tuesday's issue of the journal.
In addition to finding ways to get seniors who can no longer drive safely off the roads, communities and governments need to put in place programs that help seniors who give up their licences to continue to live independently if they are able.
"Solutions to the dilemma of who will drive our seniors - and eventually us - must be found. The status quo leaves too many seniors isolated and puts too many people at risk," Dr. Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief, and Dr. Noni MacDonald, public health section editor, wrote in the editorial.
They suggested society should plan for driving retirement the way it plans for job retirement.
The aim, they and others said, is not to get all older drivers off the road, but to find a way to identify those who need to stop driving and put in place systems to help them cope once they do.
That goal is harder to meet than one might expect, said Jonathan King, program director for driving research at the U.S. National Institute of Aging.
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