Whether you’re taking a quick trip to the grocery store or traveling across the country on vacation, driving can be enjoyable. But as you age, being behind the wheel may be less fun, comfortable or carefree as it once was. Here’s an easy way to create a plan for driving wellness, using the acronym (EX) H.A.L.E, which represents the sign of relief you may feel from these tips:
- Health
- Adjust
- Learn
- Exercise
To find out more, read through each category below:
1. Health
Your health impacts the way you drive. That’s why it’s important to:
- Keep up regular preventative care appointments like getting an eye checkup.
- Follow your health provider’s recommendations.
- Take inventory of your medications and any side effects that may impact your driving.
- Talk to your health care provider if you have a chronic illness or condition about potential impacts on your driving skills.
2. Adjust
Learning more about normal age-related changes that can impact driving wellness can be very helpful. For instance, changes in your vision while driving at night can start in your 30’s. Along with decreased peripheral vision, strength and reflexes. You may also start to become more susceptible to glare.
If you’re concerned about your driving or just had a change in your health, you may want to consider a comprehensive driving evaluation. You can sign up on the American Occupational Therapy Association’s website. You can also search for a driving specialist on this site.
3. Learn
As you age, it’s important to keep learning about safety on the road. One good option is to take a class to keep up with the rules of the road and understand more about health changes that can occur as you get older.
You’ll also want to keep learning about new vehicle technologies that support driving wellness. The Hartford’s research with the MIT AgeLab has identified several technologies that may help enhance driving for older adults like:
- Blind spot warning systems
- Back-up cameras
- Smart headlights
- Collision avoidance systems
- Lane departure warnings
4. Exercise
According to research by The Hartford Center for Mature Market Excellence (CMME) and the MIT AgeLab, exercise can help enhance flexibility and range of motion in older drivers. In fact, they found that drivers in the study who were asked to exercise daily saw benefits, including:
- Greater ease in turning their heads to see blind spots when changing lanes or to back up.
- The ability to rotate their bodies further to scan the driving environment while making right hand turns.
- Increased overall flexibility and the ability to get into their cars more quickly.
After two years of research with the MIT AgeLab, CMME found that family members are often the first to notice changes in safe driving behavior. Following this study, CMME distributed materials to older drivers and their families that encourage conversations and provided tools to help intervene when needed. It’s also important for older drivers and their family members to consider a comprehensive driving evaluation. This is a more complete assessment of a person’s ability to drive compared to a single driving test.
It’s important that as a driver, you actively maintain and improve your driving wellness. This includes knowing the current rules of the road and maximizing your personal health and fitness related to driving. Seek a qualified professional for any concerns about your confidence in your ability to drive. Whatever you decide, you’ll learn more about staying safe on the roads. You’ll also be able to maintain a comfortable driving experience for years to come.
Did you learn something new? Do you have your own tips to share? Let us know in the comments!
I have been taking a class for the mature driver with AARP for the last 12 years and have found them to be very helpful. Good information about how my body responds and tips on how to drive around trucks etc.
Thanks for the tips on increased driving wellness through H.A.L.E. It was good and useful information. I am always looking to know something new and useful.
Thanks for the info. One other very helpful safety tip I learned when I took a safety class years ago that is very helpful in preventing accidents when backing out …don’t do it! Always , if possible, back IN to your parking space or do a pull through. When you back into a space you know that the space is empty but when you back out you can’t see if there are obstacles such as people, carts, or other vehicles coming, until you’re half way out. Plus you don’t have to depend on constantly turning your head right and left every 2 seconds to be sure there are no obstacles. It works! Thanks.
I think Illinois needs to amend it’s mandatory driving test requirements. After 75, every 4 years a road test. No other state has that rule; it’s discriminatory on age. Tests should be given based on tickets and accidents along with a vision test at renewal every 4 years. 4 years for all drivers seems like a money grab to me. It used to be every 9 years. Thanks.
I don’t like driving at night when I’m on a two-lane road and the headlights are coming straight at me. I compensate by turning my head to the side to ignore the bright light. I could also wear sunglasses but mostly I don’t drive at night most of the time.
Driving involves risk, ability and experience. The less a person drives, the less their attention and reaction times are in focus. Insurance companies have new tools, including the ability to monitor driver performance in some vehicles. I drive professionally, using a company vehicle. My driving is constantly monitored, and I drive over 100 miles a day. Some new personal vehicles have a similar system. I can only keep my job if my driving conforms with safe company and insurance expectations. If I brake too hard, speed, fail to maintain my lane, or use my cell phone, I am reported electronically. The company insurance rating depends on my adherence to safe driving rules, and so does my job.
Great article
As I exercise routinely, your suggestions are still helpful
This is great information for us older drivers. Regular eye checkups and complete disclosures to doctors about our ability to drive are important keys to being a safe driver. Thanks for the information on a driving evaluation from the American Occupational Therapy Association.
Great advice!