Self-Reported Exposure and Crash Involvement in Large Sample of Ontario Drivers Aged 79 Years and Over

Abstract

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario conducted a pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of a group education and information session for drivers aged 80 and over. Questionnaires on older drivers' selfawareness of risk were completed by 1,163 drivers aged 79 and over. The questionnaire asked several rudimentary questions about self-reported exposure and crash involvement. Answers to these questions are used to estimate the amount of driving and the frequency of crash involvement for very old drivers. The respondents' self-reports of the distance and days driven during the previous week and the number of crashes within the past 5 years are cross-classified by gender, age, season, examination center location, household size, self-reported medical condition, and self-reported medication use. The best predictors of self-reported distance driven during the previous week are gender, age, and the location of the driver examination center (the latter variable is a proxy for geographic location). The best p...