AN EYE ON OLDER DRIVERS

Improving America's aging highway system also means making highways more older-driver friendly. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, the older population--those aged 65 and older--will burgeon between 2010 and 2030 when the baby-boom generation reaches age 65. By 2030, there will be approximately 70 million older adults, more than twice the number in 1997. Older drivers, along with young, beginner drivers, have more accidents per miles driven than any other age group. In January 1998, the Federal Highway Administration issued the Older Driver Highway Design Handbook, giving guidelines for improving basic highway safety conditions. The handbook supplements existing standards and guidelines focused on four main problem areas: intersection sight distance, highway exit signage, passing zone length, and temporary pavement marking in construction zones. From simple adjustments to roadway geometry and signage to complex technological advances in the driver/roadway interaction, improvements are gradually being instituted to make the nation's roads safer for the older driver.