Accident spotlights concerns over older drivers

Getting help:

A Paulding County crash in which an 81-year-old woman plowed her vehicle into five people, killing one, has highlighted a subject of growing concern around the nation — what to do about elderly drivers who are potentially dangerous to themselves and others.

National studies have shown that older drivers (classified as 65 years of age and older) are more dangerous behind the wheel, be it because of medication, failing eyesight, slowed reaction time or confusion. Making sure that they — and those who share the roads with them — stay safe is a matter of grave public concern since the number of elderly drivers is expected to skyrocket in coming decades.

The fastest-growing segment of the Atlanta region’s population is people 85 years of age and older. And mile-for-mile, older drivers are involved in a disproportionately higher rate of motor vehicle fatalities than other adult age groups. In 2012, older drivers were involved in 204 fatal traffic crashes in Georgia, or about a fifth of all the deadly crashes, according to the most recent information available from the state.

Investigators think Marlene Wilbur, 81, of Marietta, was attempting to park around 12:45 p.m. Friday when she struck three adults and two infants outside the Paulding County Courthouse. She may have mistaken the gas pedal for the brake pedal, police said. The accident is still under investigation. Wilbur’s son, Russ Wilbur, of Dallas, declined to comment when reached by phone Sunday. Wilbur has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, a misdemeanor charge.

Katherine Freund found herself in the middle of a similar nightmare in 1988, when an 84-year-old driver suffering from dementia ran over her 3-year-old son.

Despite suffering brain damage at the time, Freund’s son is doing fine today. But the experience took Freund’s life on a detour. The Portland, Maine, native decided to pursue a masters degree in public policy to find solutions to a problem that had hit home.

Through her studies, she recognized that the problem lay not just with aging drivers and that adding more strenuous testing requirements from the state cannot be the only answer. Freund found the most serious problem was the lack of transportation options for seniors.

In the American car-centric culture, people who can’t drive become virtual shut-ins.

“I don’t think people realize how long people live after they stop driving,” Freund said. “When they don’t have adequate transportation, that’s when they drive and they shouldn’t. That’s when they deny they have a problem.”

Women outlive their ability to drive by about 10 years and men by 6 years, according to the American Journal of Public Health. Freund has devoted her life to developing a transportation network for elderly people in 27 cities nationwide called the Independent Transportation Network or ITNAmerica.

Among other things, the organization pairs volunteer drivers with seniors who need their services at any hour of the day or night, for any reason. It’s a fee-based service. But people can earn credits for free transportation by volunteering to drive others, or by donating their car.

The first ITN affiliate in Georgia will launch this summer in Gainesville. Erika Walker is both a co-chair of the ITM-Lanier branch and a daughter who has had to wrestle with the complexities of taking the keys from an octogenarian father.

Walker said her father, who lives in Chattanooga, suffered from a series of strokes and had a fall that resulted in two broken vertebrae over the past year. But even now, as she is in the process of moving him into an assisted living facility, her father’s desire to drive remains a battleground issue.

“He thinks he can handle everything on his own and doesn’t need anybody’s help,” Walker said. “It was a constant back-and-forth battle.”

Metro Atlanta in particular lacks transportation options for seniors. It ranked the worst among American cities with populations of more than 3 million people in terms of the number of seniors with poor transit access in a 2011 study by Transportation for America, an organization that advocates for denser development.

Three-quarters of the nation’s population 65 and older live in the suburbs, exurbs or rural areas where cars are king. And studies show the vast majority of them will not move.

So there is a pressing need for additional investment in local initiatives that offer rides to seniors and promote walkable, transit-friendly communities where they can remain independent, said Kathryn Lawler, manager of aging and health resources for the Atlanta Regional Commission.

“It’s hard to find somebody that hasn’t had to deal with an issue of an older friend or loved one having to give up their keys and the impact that has on the whole family,” Lawler said. “It’s not that we have to figure out what we do. We have to put more resources behind it.”

Georgia has regulations aimed at taking elderly drivers who show diminished capacity off the road.

The state has vision screening requirements for would-be drivers who are age 64 and over. They must successfully complete an in-person vision screening at each renewal period. The state can also revoke the license of a driver of any age for medical reasons.

If a non-anonymous complaint is received, the Department of Driver Services will issue a letter notifying the driver they must get an evaluation by a doctor to prove they are fit to drive. Otherwise, their license is revoked within 30 days. Later, if the person is cleared to drive, their license can be reinstated, provided they retake and pass the driving and knowledge tests.