Project aims to standardise older driver assessments

An independent evaluation of the implementation and delivery of standardised mature driver assessments will set out to measure the road safety benefits and inform a wider roll-out of the schemes. The evaluation, funded by The Road Safety Trust, will be carried out by the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), working with The Older Driver Task Force (ODTF), the Older Drivers Forum and the University of Warwick.

The number of drivers aged 60 years and older is increasing. While the ageing process should not be seen as a bar to driving, a range of associated issues have been found to increase risk. This includes declining eyesight, reduced levels of flexibility, cognitive or memory decline, and increased medication use.

In response, several local authorities have developed older driver on-road assessment schemes that aim to support mature drivers to ‘drive safer for longer’.