DriveSharp: A Program that Sharpens Elder Driving Skills

One of the inevitable effects of getting older is that your eyesight begins to fail. It's nothing to be ashamed about it happens to everyone, even those drivers who have been proud of their farsightedness will find that, some point, glasses or contacts will appear as it becomes tougher to see close up or far away.

Or, to put it another way, "At 16, your useful field of vision is about this big," said Lloyd Albert, the American Automobile Assn.'s senior vice president of public and government affairs, as he held his hands about a foot-and-a-half apart. "When you get to 85, it shrinks down to this," he noted, his hands now about the size of a grapefruit.

Skills Decline With Age

Translating this to driving, as noted in the current edition of AAA Horizons, where a youngster might be able to see a ball bouncing toward the street, just at the corner of his field of view vision and swerve, while hitting the brakes, an elder driver might not see the ball at all until it's in the center of the street, far to late to do anything about it.

The question then is "Can some of this natural decline be reversed?" And, answering his own question, Albert said, "unequivocally yes."

Answer is Software

The answer is in the software, supported the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the developed by California-based firm, Posit Safety, called DriveSharp. It is a piece of software that, according to AAA, can help reverse some of the decline that naturally hits all drivers as they age.

DriveSharp is the result of work carried out by Dr. Michael Merznich, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Posit. His work over the three couple of decades has helped to reshape thinking about the brain. In the past 30 years, Dr. Merznich has led a great deal of research into that operating system that pushes us all, the brain. He has led research into brain plasticity and the findings have been astonishing.

"Thirty years ago, everyone thought the brain was like a machine," Dr. Henry W. Mahncke, vice president for research and outcomes at Posit. Since that time, he noted in AAA Horizons, publication of AAA Southern New England, research has "...turned this notion on its head." For example, he indicated, "We now know the brain is capable of improving its function at any age."

"If you ask your brain to do the right things," Dr. Mahncke noted, "you will end up with a brain that's better."

Learning Ability Does Not Decline

The result of this research has led to DriveSharp, software that can improve reaction times which, in turn, lessen the chance of a crash by 50 percent. The software can also increase a driver's field of view and improve:

Accuracy
Attention
Memory

According to AAA, the effect goes beyond small cognitive (defined as acts of knowledge or knowing) improvement. In Massachusetts, for example, there have been several horrific accidents recently involving older drivers, including an accident in which a little girl was hit and killed as she crossed the street in in a crosswalk - Massachusetts has a mandatory stop law for motorists who come upon pedestrians in a crosswalk - with her grandfather and there have been several other similar accidents involving senior drivers, so the state has been having an especially tough time of it.

Massachusetts Hard Hit

The result is that some are suggesting more frequent testing for older drivers or doctor involvement in the process, both of which could lead to more license revocations. It's the easy panacea answer to this question.

And, until DriveSharp there has been no honest alternative. "AAA is focused on helping the driver," the auto group's Albert noted. He indicated that "...taking drivers' keys away is tantamount to taking away their their freedom."

According to AAA, using DriveSharp is like playing a computer game. Spending a few hours with the program modules or games that are designed to improve necessary skills for safe driving can make you a safer driver or, as the auto group notes, "lead to fewer keys confiscated and more safe drivers on the road."

Cognition is the hot-button item for the market right now. There has been a literal explosion of "brain exercise" programs as dozens of companies are leaping on this new moneywagon. The key here is how do you know which ones are good.

Dr. Mahncke said the answer was simple. "Just see which studies have published scientific studies. We're scientists and there's a way to answer questions about what works." The information should also include the results of clinical trials, the type of which DriveSharp has undergone. "One of the things that makes me most proud is that we are the only company that has done those clinical trials," Dr. Mahler concluded.

Online Test Available

AAA members can take a risk assessment test for free at AAA.com. "If you're average, then that's OK," Albert said, "Keep driving!!"

If not, then DriveSharp may be your ticket to improvement. AAA membership means a substantial savings on the $139 program. An AAA member can purchase it for $99.

Summing up, Albert may be expressing the feelings of many in law enforcement who believe that a program like DriveSharp can mean saving lives which is a potential that "is huge."

source: AAA, Posit Safety