A 2004 Florida law requires all drivers in Florida to pass a vision test before getting their drivers’ licenses renewed when they reach the age of 80.  Comparative analysis of motor vehicle collision death rates in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia for 2001 to 2006 reveals a drop in the death rate for elderly drivers in Florida alone, but only after the vision test became mandatory.

The rates of death to elderly drivers in Alabama and Georgia remained stable throughout the study period.Saying the situation as a whole is more complex than merely the implementation of the vision screening law, Gerald McGwin, Jr., lead researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, concludes the most likely reason for the drop in collision-related death to elderly Florida drivers is the vision test.  The improved driving records of 80-plus-year-old Florida drivers may have been influenced by these suggestions, too:

• 93% of elderly drivers who applied for license renewal were granted it, leaving only 7% of licensed drivers in this age group unable to pass the vision screening test.
• It’s likely many rejected drivers sought ophthalmological care to try again for renewal.
• The desire to remain independent as long as possible may be a particularly strong incentive to maintain optimum visual acuity, especially when driving.

How did Florida fare against its neighboring states?

• During the period of study, the automobile-collision death rate of Florida drivers of every age increased by 6%, or from 14.61 deaths per 100,000 Florida drivers of any age (in 2001) to 14.71 (in 2006).
• However, deaths under the same circumstances to drivers age 80 and older dropped by an impressive 17%, from 16.03 to 10.76 deaths per 100,000 elderly Florida drivers.
• The rate of death for drivers age 80 and older in Alabama and Georgia, where vision screening is not required for license renewal regardless of advancing age, showed no significant changes over the study period.

The study, found in the current issue of the journal, ‘Archives of Ophthalmology,’ is expected to help state traffic-safety officials adapt licensing regulations that better identify and put the brakes on elderly drivers at high risk of accident while allowing those who pose little risk to enjoy driving at will, as long as licenses are kept current.