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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| What are the impacts of giving up the driving licence? | | Author(s) | Anu Siren, Sonja Haustein |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 35, no 9, October 2015 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, October 2015 |
| Pages | pp 1821-1838 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Driving capability ; Mobility ; Health [elderly] ; Well being ; Transport services ; Needs [elderly] ; Social surveys ; Denmark. |
| Annotation | Driving cessation is a gradual process, where driver's self-regulation plays an important role. Age-based licence renewal may interfere with this process and trigger premature driving cessation. The present study compares Danish drivers (aged 69 years at the baseline) who either renewed or gave up their driving licence. Data were collected in 2009 (N=1,792) and in 2012 (N=863). The standardised interviews covered respondents' background information, health and well-being, and transportation patterns. Non-renewers had poorer health already at baseline, but did become more dependent on others in their activities after giving up their licence. Regarding travel frequency, neither the differences between renewers and non-renewers nor the changes over time within the groups were pronounced. The groups already differed in their use of transport modes at the baseline: the renewers drove, while non-renewers travelled as passengers, used public transport, walked or cycled. Not renewing the licence was a strong predictor of unmet mobility needs, especially in relation to leisure activities. The present study indicates that younger seniors' mobility is not likely to be affected by the strict renewal policies. However, given the positive economic and safety consequences of independent mobility in old age, society should try to prevent unwarranted mobility loss - which would be the consequence, were restrictive, ageist policies to be in place. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-150918201 A |
| Classmark | OPF: C4: CC: D:F:5HH: O: IK: 3F: 76K |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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