Seniors’ unmet mobility needs – how important is a driving licence?

Abstract

Seniors' unmet mobility needs -how important is a driving licence? AbstractPrevious studies have come to different conclusions regarding how important a driving licence is for seniors to fulfil their mobility needs. We investigated this question based on three groups of Danish seniors: persons who were licensed as drivers ("drivers"); persons who have never been licensed drivers ("never-drivers"); and persons who recently gave up their licence ("ex-drivers").Data were collected via standardised telephone interviews in 2012 among 863 individuals born in 1939/40. The three groups differed significantly in socio-demographics and health; never-drivers had the least resources, and ex-drivers the poorest health. Moreover, the two unlicensed groups had more unmet mobility needs than drivers. In ordinal regression models, both never having had a licence and having given up a licence significantly affected unmet mobility needs. Among the background variables, which were successively added to the models, health variables were most relevant, while socio-demographics and infrastructure played a minor role. When entering the health variables to the models, the effect of giving up a licence decreased but remained significant for unmet leisure needs, while it became insignificant for unmet shopping needs. The effect of never having had a licence was hardly affected by the inclusion of control variables. The results emphasise the importance of a driving licence in fulfilling seniors' mobility needs. Contrary to our hypotheses, more experience with, and better access to alternative transport modes cannot sufficiently compensate for mobility problems due to lack of the option to drive.

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“…People who, at a certain stage of their lives, have less capacity for work cease activities, so retirement is a turning mark in senior life that can induce depressive states when not regarded with useful alternative activities and social interactions [7,43,44]. The resulting depression makes individuals more susceptible to disease and may aggravate pre-existing diseases [45].…”

“…In addition, in these age groups, there is an evident preference for the personal automobile as mode of transportation [5,6]. Driving a personal automobile still remains an important primary mode of mobility, in so far as the ability to leave the home is essential aspects of the quality of life of senior persons and often connected to psychological well-being, independence, and the sense of being empowered in old age [5,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Travel behaviour of seniors in Eastern Europe: a comparative study of Brno and Bratislava

“…This well-documented phenomenon has resulted in an increased need for understanding travel behaviour of seniors as a significant and growing population group [1]. Researchers in industrialised countries have focused on areas such as the association between travel behaviour of seniors and their health [2], availability of travel modes and their lifestyle [3], or shopping trips for older and physically challenged people [4]. However, not all industrialised countries facing the same problems have been studied to the same extent.…”

“…In addition, not being able to drive a car is more and more frequent with the increasing age of seniors. Driving cessation in return significantly influences individual's lifestyle, especially because of its pressure to change well-established and previously functional behavioural pattern of a car driving [2]. Driving cessation (along with unavailable alternative mode choices) could be challenging since active lifestyle is mobilitydemanding [3].…”

Psychological and Cognitive Aspects of Ageing: The Importance of Driving on Senior Living

“…To many senior drivers, the personal automobile use represents an overcoming of needs in experience and wellness and contributes to active ageing and independent living, where better access to alternative transport modes cannot sufficiently compensate for mobility problems due to the lack of the option to drive [7]. Currently, senior drivers represent an attractive target audience for the automotive industry, and design research is fundamental to the development of friendly solutions and adjusted to the characteristics, needs and interests of these drivers [28-32].…”