Medical Review Process and License Disposition of Drivers Referred by Law Enforcement and Other Sources in Virginia

This year, 2011, the first of the Baby Boom generation begins to reach age 65. This 65- and-older age group, which numbered 35 million in the United States in 2000, will grow to more than 54 million by 2020, and will exceed 70 million by 2030. By 2030, nearly 1 in 5 drivers will be 65 or older (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004). As noted by Rosenbloom (2004), licensing is close to universal among those who will turn 65 in the next 15 years, with almost every U.S. man and more than 9 out of 10 U.S. women entering their retirement years as drivers. Along with the increase in the number of older licensed drivers will be increases in number of drivers with agerelated medical conditions and functional declines that impair safe driving (Owsley, 2004; O’Neill & Dobbs, 2004). Also, although older people made up approximately 12% of the U.S. population in 2004, they accounted for 34% of all prescription medication use and 30% of all over-the-counter medication use (Merck Institute of Aging & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). Approximately 64% of older adults in a large pharmaceutical database study sample received potentially driver-impairing medications (LeRoy & Morse, 2008).