Exercise Can Help Avoid Senior Accidents

There has been an increasing body of research into senior motoring safety, and these studies have attempted to understand the challenges senior citizens face while driving, and the strategies that can be used to minimize these challenges. A recent study was aimed at understanding how exercise can help senior drivers become better and safer drivers.

The study found that fitness and exercise programs that focus on flexibility, range of motion, coordination and strength training can help deal with many of the challenges that senior drivers frequently report. Researchers found that many senior drivers faced the following problems while driving – turning around to look at blind spots, and craning their heads and necks to scan for cars and pedestrians in their environment. Even getting in and out of the car was a challenging activity.

The researchers made a group of seniors participate in a series of fitness programs that included flexibility, range of motion, strength and flexibility training over 10 weeks. At the end of these 10 weeks, the driving skills of the seniors were analyzed, and researchers found that there was definitely an improvement in the driving skills before and after the fitness programs.

There was an improvement in the kind of activities that the seniors reported having trouble with before and after they underwent the fitness programs.

The trucking industry needs to pay specific attention to the results of the study, because an entire generation of truck drivers is aging, and is likely to face a number of senior-related driving concerns. According to a study by the Transportation Research Board, the percentage of senior truck drivers above the age of 65 on the road has increased 3.7% since 2004, and is only expected to rise.

The Texas trucking accident attorneys at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers represent persons injured in trucking accidents across Texas. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.