‘Motorists over the age of 60 years intend to drive for as long as they are safe to do so, and the average age they would consider giving up their licence is 82 years’.
Thursday 4 November sees two Festival presentations focusing on older drivers.
First, Sam Chapman, co-founder and director of The Floow, looks at fitness to drive and older driver safety assessment using new technologies.
In his presentation Sam says there is an urgent need to develop better tools to understand fitness to drive, and diagnosis and ongoing monitoring for early stages of neurodegenerative disease. He goes on to suggest that new technologies currently used to assess risk, predominantly among young drivers, can be adapted to do the same for older drivers.
Sam then moves on to outline current UK trials of new technologies designed to automate driver monitoring, and discuss how these tools can aid older drivers, assessors, clinicians, carers and family members.
This is followed by a double header presentation by Rebecca Ashton and Neil Greig from IAM RoadSmart, who explain how older drivers see themselves as ‘fit, healthy and determined to keep driving’.
Their presentation is based on new research by IAM RoadSmart which reveals that motorists over the age of 60 years intend to drive for as long as they are safe to do so, and that the average age they would consider giving up their licence is 82 years.
- Click here to watch both presentations – scroll down to Thurs 4 Nov
Looking ahead to tomorrow
Week one concludes with two fringe presentations.
At 10.00, Benjamin Smith from The Bikeability Trust will present Cycle Savvy Driving, a trial project delivered by The Bikeability Trust on behalf of the DfT, which is designed to address the current lack of cycle awareness learning resources for ADIs and learner drivers.
The final presentation of the week (14.00) will feature John and Denise Billington from Room 9 Media, who will be looking at how to communicate with Year 7 pupils in a style which is both contemporary and relevant to their own experience.
Weeks 2, 3 and 4
The programmes for the Festival weeks 2, 3 and 4 can be viewed here – by clicking on the links on the right hand side. All of these sessions are subject to final confirmation in terms of dates and timings.
- Click here to receive daily alerts throughout the Festival.
The 2021 Festival is being organised by Road Safety GB and sponsored by Jenoptik. For more information contact either Nick Rawlings or Edward Seaman by email or on 01379 650112.
Comment on this story