'No wonder they're anxious. They started driving before roundabouts even existed'

The number of elderly people behind the wheel is set to soar. But, asks Neil Crossley, can they cope with modern motoring?

The Guardian, July 3, 2000

If it wasn't for a huge slice of luck, Eric Voight would almost certainly have died the day he drove from Lichfield to Manchester. Without realising, the 76-year-old violin dealer and restorer drove into the oncoming lane of a dual carriageway. Only the frantic flashing of an approaching driver - and a convenient gap in the barriers - enabled Voight to avert a horrific crash. But it left him shaken. He went to his GP who assured him it was a one-off.

"He should have warned me then," says Voight. "He knew my age. But I soon realised my driving ability was failing. I was no longer thinking quickly and had trouble noticing the signs. After more close shaves I finally thought, 'That's enough.' I took my car to an auction, sold it and that was that. People often say, 'I can't do without my car.' But it's no argument - not when you consider your safety and that of other people."

Ask an elderly driver to recall their fondest motoring memories and it's unlikely they'll select any from the past few decades. Gone are the days of not seeing another car for miles. The generation who passed their driving tests in the post-war years have had to become accustomed to motorway gridlock, road rage, tailgating and a whopping 10-fold increase in road traffic.

But new research suggests that modern-day motoring is taking its toll on elderly drivers. Studies are showing that intimidation, lack of confidence and declining ability are forcing many elderly drivers off the road altogether. And with the elderly population expected to soar in the next 20 years, steps are now being taken to ensure safer motoring for the "baby boomer" elderly drivers of the future.

According to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), elderly drivers are involved in as many accidents per mile as 25 year-olds. This is partly due to elderly motorists driving predominantly on local urban roads, which have the worst safety record. Another recent study commissioned by the Automobile Association has found that elderly drivers have particular problems turning at road junctions.

"The crushing message for older drivers is that, in spite of all their fears about motorways and busy traffic, it's the right-hand turn that is their biggest enemy," says Andrew Howard, AA head of road safety. "Older people feature highly in junction accidents. They seem to have trouble judging the speed of approaching vehicles and finding a gap between them to pull out. On today's busy roads, they are forced to take risks they are often not capable of achieving."

It would be alarmist to suggest that elderly drivers are generally unsafe. Many older people are highly competent drivers with years of experience and Howard points out that few elderly drivers drive drunk or use their cars as machismo objects.

But age inevitably slows us down. AA research shows that failing vision is the main reason elderly people stop driving. Eyes become more sensitive to headlight dazzle and take longer to focus back on the road. But deterioration of our faculties is often an insidious process - and some may not recognise a decline until too late.

To help assess potential risks, the DETR is currently conducting a three-year study of elderly motorists' driving. One early finding is that elderly people restrict their motoring by avoiding busy town centres, unfamiliar routes and driving at night. Yet despite this self-regulation, many competent elderly drivers still become anxious about their driving. And this anxiety can reach a crisis point.

"I have worried myself so sick that I can't eat or sleep," says Dennis Cox, a 72-year-old retired sales manager. Ten years ago, he began worrying obsessively after journeys that he had jumped a red light or even killed a pedestrian without realising. The only way he can stop the worry is to retrace his journey to check for signs of imagined carnage. For Cox, an otherwise stable and jovial person, this obsessive worry has become a millstone around his neck.

"I realise it's irrational," he says. "If you hit someone, you'd know about it. But I can't get that into my head. I once drove past a pub where there were young people coming out. I heard shouting and when I got home thought, 'Perhaps they were shouting because I hit someone.' I actually went back but, of course, there was no sign of anything."

To quell this anxiety, Cox booked a refresher lesson. The instructor said his driving was good but that didn't help. Dennis now suspects that his pride about his 48-year clean driving record - and his fear of not being able to maintain it - may have contributed to his anxiety.

Matthew Joint, AA behavioural psychologist, echoes Cox's suspicions. He is well aware of the anxiety that elderly drivers can experience. Retirement sometimes prompts people to dwell on things, he says, and driving is one of them. And such sufferers are predominantly male. "Driving is an important part of many men's lives," he says. "To realise they're not as good as they once were can be devastating. They've often dominated the driving for a long time. Sometimes their wives never learned. Then being unable to share the driving only increases the pressure. I've known people to go into panic attacks because of this."

It's unlikely that the next generation of older men will experience this problem as, according to AA predictions, the number of elderly women drivers will double in the next 15 years. But this upcoming older generation will still suffer declining faculties. In anticipation of this, some local authorities are launching mature driver schemes. Devon county council has pioneered such courses, and other counties look set to follow. On them, drivers are encouraged to voice their concerns. One subject that always comes up, says instructor Mike Howell, is young drivers.

"They feel very intimidated by young drivers. I always stress it's nothing personal, just people leading busy lives. Roundabouts are another worry - hardly surprising as roundabouts didn't exist when many of them learned to drive."

In August, the DETR will conclude its study and research is already under way to assess how road signs can be improved. But some fear these studies will ultimately lead nowhere. "Yes, there's a lot of DETR research and some good learning taking place," says Peter Gimber, Devon county council head of road safety. "But I fear the whole national issue of older drivers is in the tray marked 'Too difficult'."

One finding is that many older drivers want to give up driving simply because it has become a chore. Eric Voight is one. While he misses the car for shopping, he does not miss the stress of driving through Manchester and having profane insults hurled at him by impatient boy racers. And he certainly does not miss worrying about landing himself or a pedestrian in hospital because of his lapsed concentration.