Cognitive capabilities are important to strengthen for continued safe driving as we age. In recent years, state-sponsored research in Maryland has shown that if a driver fails a cognitive test, he is 25 percent more likely to be involved in a crash. That’s quite an statistic.
The good news is that the cognitive abilities important to driving can be prolonged and even rehabilitated even if they are in decline. The brain gets lulled by routine, which does little to stimulate new cell growth. But challenged to adjust to new locales and situations, cognitive abilities can recover.
If older drivers are healthier and more alert, they may be driving differently, to different places and have different travel patterns, such as spending more time on highways, which are the “safest types of roads for them” according to the auto insurance industry.
Here’s a reminder of the cognitive skills required for driving:
- The motor skill of driving requires co-ordination
- Analysis of the street and highway environment requires good shape perception, visuo-spatial analysis, visual and selective attention skills
- Awareness and monitoring of the traffic patterns and situations involves executive functions.
So keep up your structured cognitive cross training routine and you’ll be a safer driver.