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Innov Aging
Innov Aging
innovateage
Innovation in Aging
2399-5300 Oxford University Press US 

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.2597
igaa057.2597
Abstracts
Session 6315 (Symposium)
AcademicSubjects/SOC02600
Evaluating Older Drivers in Their Everyday Driving Environments
Gelinas Isabelle 1 Mazer Barbara 2 Chen Yu-Ting 1 Vrkljan Brenda 3 Marshall Shawn 4 Charlton Judith 5 Koppel Sjaanie 5 1 
McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2 
McGill University School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
3 
McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
4 
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
5 
Monash University Accident Research Centre, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
2020 
16 12 2020 
16 12 2020 
4 Suppl 1 Program Abstracts from The GSA 2020 Annual Scientific Meeting “Turning 75: Why Age Matters”731 731
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.2020This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Abstract
Developing tools that accurately detect at-risk driving behaviors is a public-health priority. There is a need for a measure that accurately assesses older drivers’ level of competence on familiar roadways. The objective of this presentation is to describe the development of the procedures and scoring of a new approach, the Electronic Driving Observation Schedule (eDOS), to observe everyday driving in the community. The eDOS was used to record and compare the driving environment and performance of older drivers and low-risk younger drivers during their everyday driving. Older (n=160, >74y) and younger (n=60, 35-64y) drivers completed a 20-30-minute drive from their home to destinations of their choice. Older drivers drove on simpler routes with fewer intersections and lane changes. Both groups made few driving errors, which were mostly low-risk. Younger drivers tended to demonstrate poor driving habits (not signaling, speeding, poor lane position) and compliance with road rules. Part of a symposium sponsored by Transportation and Aging Interest Group.