Scooter traffic incidents have a higher fatality rate when elderly people are involved, a study showed.
Taiwan is to become a super-aged society next year, and as elderly people are becoming a higher proportion of road users, traffic safety education is becoming more important, researchers a in the Department of Public Health at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan said.
Although there is a lower proportion of elderly people involved in traffic incidents, data showed that they have a higher death rate, NCKU Professor of Public Health Lee Chung-yi (李中一) said.
Photo: Taipei Times file
Data compiled by the research team showed that about 28,000 people aged 65 or older were injured in traffic incidents in 2011.
The number climbed to 73,000 last year, three times the amount in 2011, he said.
People aged 65 or older accounted for 13.6 percent of two-wheeled vehicle road accidents last year, but were 38.3 percent of the fatality rate, Lee said.
“Although elderly people are less likely to be in traffic incidents, when they are, it is more likely to be fatal. The government has regulations in place requiring people aged 75 and older to have a medical examination every three years when they renew their driver’s license,” he said.
The regulation requires that examinations be conducted at a hospital or a medical center, to check for dementia, cognitive decline and visual ability, and other tests to verify the person’s ability to drive a scooter.
“Although the regulation has been in place for many years, we still have no data on whether it has been effective in reducing traffic incidents among elderly people,” Lee said.
More resources are needed to help people who require mobility assistance, such as those recovering from stroke, spinal cord injuries and other major illnesses, NCKU Department of Occupational Therapy researcher Chen Yu-ting (陳郁婷) said.
“Although people recovering from these injuries — which affects elderly people in particular — have decreased mobility, they still need to go out to places to live their lives, and they often use vehicles,” Chen said.
The study found that 84 percent of elderly people in Tainan rely on a scooter as their main mode of transportation, and 80 percent of use a scooter three days or more in a week.
Chen said that 6 percent of the monitored subjects had a known decline in cognitive skills, 8 percent had balance problems, 24 percent had vision conditions leading to attention lapses and were unable to control or reduce their vehicle speed in time, and 24 percent admitted to not having a scooter license, or it was already expired.
The research team said that Taiwan must face up to issues associated with having a super-aged society, recommending that the government create education programs to train elderly people about road safety.
They said their research findings showed that through education, elderly people had a better comprehension of road safety, and greater awareness about potentially dangerous conditions and preventative measured required to keep safe on the road.
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