Driving - Mature Driver Safety

In the United States, more than 25 million people are in the country's 70-plus age group. This group grew twice as fast as the total population from 1990 to 2000, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Unfortunately, statistics also show that older drivers have a higher rate of fatal crashes per miles driven than all but the youngest of drivers. This is due to changes that occur as a part of the process of aging: changes in vision, ability to concentrate, and reaction time.

To address this problem, the Virginia Department for the Aging (VDA) has been working with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to educate older drivers and their families about the effects of aging on driving skills. DMV's Mature Driver Safety web site has a wealth of information on this topic.

VDA has also partnered with the Greater Richmond Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association to produce "When to Yield: Questions and Answers about Dementia and Driving". You can download a copy of it by visiting our Publications page and look under the subject heading "Mature Driver Safety". You can also contact us for more information or assistance.

Note: Links to web sites produced by organizations other than the Virginia Department for the Aging (VDA) are provided for your convenience. When you select one of these links, you will leave VDA's web site. VDA is not responsible for the content of linked web pages, and does not endorse products or services that may be offered on the linked pages. Also, the privacy policies of these sites may differ from the privacy policy followed by the Department for the Aging. Please report incorrect or outdated links to VDA's Web Designer.