Research

Professor Gary Naglie comments

Toronto mourned 10 pedestrian deaths over the short span of nine days in January. Pedestrian fatalities in Toronto, as a percentage of total traffic fatalities, have increased by 15 per cent since 2008, and 21 per cent since 2007. What’s to blame for these unfortunate events? It’s hard to say, but it’s not a question of age, according to Dr. Gary Naglie, a specialist in geriatric medicine in U of T’s Faculty of Medicine.

If age isn’t a risk for driving, what are risks?

It comes down to ability and function. Medical conditions and medications, rather than age, are the primary factors that affect a person’s physical and cognitive functioning, which influence driving safety. Medical conditions can affect driving at any age. It’s really an issue of identifying whether a certain medical condition or combination of conditions influences a person’s physical and/or cognitive functioning to the extent that it interferes with their driving. There are medical resources that doctors commonly use to help them identify medical conditions that may affect driving safety, including the Canadian Medical Association publication Determining Medical Fitness to Operate Motor Vehicles. However, doctors do not find these resources sufficient and have called for the development of valid tools to help them assess fitness to drive.

I understand you’re working on a study that helps screen senior drivers. Please tell us about the study.

This is an ongoing research project implemented through Candrive , a group I’m a member of. Candrive is a team of national investigators from multiple disciplines conducting an older driver cohort study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We are enrolling drivers 70 years of age or older at several sites across the country. Each subject is tested annually so we can track possible predictors of adverse driving outcomes that occur over five years of follow-up. The annual assessment includes questions about driving habits and behaviours, assessments of vision and upper and lower extremities, as well as paper-and-pencil tests of cognition. The ultimate objective of the study is to develop a screening tool that doctors can use to assess who is and who is not safe to drive. Our tool will be a rapid, objective test that can be easily completed in a doctor’s office. Computerized tests and on-road driving evaluations don’t come into play with this tool.

Is there one message you’d like to leave with us?

Older adults should not be pegged as unsafe drivers. The majority of older drivers are safe drivers. Only a minority of older drivers have developed medical conditions and functional problems that can make them unsafe to drive. Our study will help provide doctors with the best tools possible to evaluate driving safety in such individuals.

Tags: Behind the Headlines, Dr. Gary Naglie, driving, Society