@article{ref1,
title="Elderly drivers involved in road crashes: a profile",
journal="American surgeon",
year="1995",
author="Rehm, C. G. and Ross, S. E.",
volume="61",
number="5",
pages="435-437",
abstract="The ability of elderly citizens to drive safely has been the subject of ongoing debate. To identify the type of elderly driver who becomes involved in an injury-producing road crash, we profiled all drivers over 39 years of age admitted to our Level I Trauma Center over a 1-year period. Data were prospectively collected and drivers age 40-59 years were compared with those over 60 years. Eighty-four drivers age > or = 60 and 130 drivers age 40-59 were studied. Of the 84 elderly drivers, 67 were deemed at fault. Twenty-four of those crashes were due to driving errors, 12 due to syncopes, and in 20 no crash cause was determined. Fifty-three of the 67 at fault drivers had significant underlying medical problems, compared to 9 of 17 deemed not at fault. Only four were legally intoxicated. Of the 130 drivers in the comparison group, only 19 had significant underlying medical problems; in three syncope was suspected; 18 were legally intoxicated. We conclude from our data that underlying medical disorders occur frequently in elderly drivers and may contribute to their incidence of road crashes.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0003-1348",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}