Management of the Driver with Dementia

In North America, the dramatic aging of the population has led to older drivers being the fastest growing segment of the driving population (1). Currently, there are 23 million licensed drivers over the age of 65 years in the United States and this number is expected to increase in the next few decades (2). In addition, trends indicate that not only are older adults increasing the number of miles driven per year (3), they also are driving longer into old age. For instance it is estimated that at age 70, older adults can expect about 11 years of driving life expectancy (4). Thus, over the next few decades, there will be a greater number of older adult drivers on our roadways.