Book Review

Psych 459--Fall 2001--G15

Dr. Leon James, Instructor

by Jade

Date:  November 8, 2001

Instructions for this Book Review

Newsworthy Update

The Safety of Elderly Drivers is drawing attention to public concern today among the North American population as more of the elderly are living longer lives and becoming active motorists in society.  I believe this message is crucial to know because the population of older drivers are on the rise while birth rate is decreasing contrary to popular belief.  The largest population will consist of elderly drivers as projected by the year 2050.  Society needs to be aware of their behavior that are similar and different as drivers.  There are twelve main factors that contribute to the increase in elderly licensed drivers based on an award-winning essay, "Aging & Driving" written by Marsh (1960:14)  Depth perception among elderly drivers are a problem which affects all driving conditions.  According to the author, depth perception is, "the inability to properly judge gaps in approaching traffic inevitably leads to poor gap acceptance decisions and thereby accidents for which the elderly will often be charged with "failure to yield the right-of-way."  The solution to combat this problem is the development of comprehensive educational programs for elderly drivers.  Some of the major topics include reaction time, physical frailty, and the loss of driving privileges.  Reaction time refers to quick and appropriate judgment that the elderly aged sixty and over encounter as drivers.  Physical frailty is the degeneration of the body such as heart condition or arthritis could limit the operation and control of an automobile among the elderly.  Loss of driving privileges means to be informed by a doctor or authority figure that the elderly person loses their right to drive because of deteriorating health.  Elderly drivers would depend on other forms of transportation such as riding bicycles, walking, and utilizing public transit.

Taking Notice

Media is an influential part of their lives since elderly drivers keep up with the current traffic, laws, automotive, and traffic engineering technology via reading the newspaper, listening to the radio, or watching television.  The book's topic is related to Adult Development and Aging course (Psychology 342) according to the information presented in Chapter 2 regarding older adults tend to outperform younger people in recalling words that are more familiar and pertinent to their life.  I found the stories in Chapter 8 about victims of serious crashes particularly on the other driver or person at fault during an accident to be interesting.  These stories are of particular interest to me because I am curious what other drivers are thinking about before and after the accident.  A quote I found that would benefit all readers is to be aware of the distinction between competence versus performance.  According to the author, "Competence refers to what individuals can do under ideal conditions; performance refers to what individuals do under actual conditions (Reese and Rodeheaver 1985)."  It is important not to confuse both terms when reading this book.  I learned many interesting points.  However, one important point I will not forget is that elderly motorists drive more defensively and cautiously, but that does not necessarily mean they drive more slowly.  My message to other motorists is to break away from making the assumption that not all elderly motorists drive in the same manner. 

Opinions Matter

This book shows its strength in providing an extensive statistical analysis of verification pertaining to the elderly in different chapters and in the back of the book for people that want to see proof of information.  The book mentions and highly emphasizes defensive driving as a fundamental tool for elderly driver education.  I don't agree that defensive driving courses and techniques will produce long lasting changes considering the fact that elderly drivers have taken these courses years ago.  I agree that elderly drivers would reap the benefits of Life Long Driver Education.  In the Generational 14 Curriculum of Psychology 459 class, there is a link on the Administration on Aging which is relevant to the topic.  I highly recommend this book for anyone age 16 and older.  I think that everyone will benefit from putting themselves in the elderly drivers' experiences and to have more respect, compassion, and understanding for them.  This book will also have a great impact on caretakers, adult children, and grandchildren of the elderly.  The AARP 55 Alive Driver Safety Program is an appropriate refresher course for the already licensed driver.  Educating people on this matter should include adult driver education on the educational traffic safety or driving program that touch upon aging, the myths and truths, current traffic laws, and awareness of automobile features and technology.  The adult driver education should be comprehensive and applicable to enable older drivers to drive in society.  

References

Dahlin, Jennifer.  20 minute Oral Presentation on Administration on Aging.  Retrieved on Nov. 6, 2001 from the World Wide Web:  http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2001/20%20minute%20oral%20report.htm

Administration on Aging.  Retrieved on Nov. 6, 2001 from the World Wide Web:  http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/

Dr. James Leon.  Lifelong Driver Education:  The New Paradigm.  Retrieved on Nov. 6, 2001 from the World Wide Web:  http://www.aloha.net/~dyc/qdc.html

AARP 55 Alive Driver Safety Program.  Retrieved on Nov. 6, 2001 from the World Wide Web:  http://www.aarp.org/55alive/home.html